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BETWEEN THE 



UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN; 



WITH A 



CTJllTlCAli ATTEXmX, &c 



BY EBENEZER HARLOW CUMMINS, A. M. 



BALTIMOBE: 

riinted by Benja. Edes, corner of Second and Ga/.streets 

1820. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Since the late hostilities with Great Britain, several books have 
been published in the United States purporting to be histories 
of tiie war. No one of tliem, it is believed, can be received as 
generally authentic: the whole adding little to the literary char- 
acter of the country. Of those most g-en'^rally circulated, we can 
speak the least favourably, as specimens of history, which means 
something more than compilations from newspapers, or a tirade 
of epithets stigmatising our adversaries. Two or three stipendi- 
aries occupied the fore ground in the race of the booksellers for 
the market of the United States, producing interesting though 
coarse compilations; which, while the feelings created by the war 
were still in Hvely existence, were read with sensations of pleas- 
ure. But no one now will ascribe to their works, the name, 
much less the character of history. Weems' life of Marion, in 
which the author has collated and embellished many interesting 
events, with the view to a popular book, has greatly superiour 
pretensions to either. With enough of fact to challenge, at this 
late day, the credence of most readers, it excels in all kinds of 
jest and fancy; and administers abundantly of the finest entertain- 
ment to the lovers of fun. Not so the works we have noticed. 
Eaton, Latour, and McAffee have furnished books of a differ- 
ent character. They are useful; containing a great mass of im- 
portant information, necessary to the historian who shall come 
after them. We do not design to bring up for criticism, or any 
thing else, the many other histories, sketches, and biographical 
memoirs, published in different parts of the country. They ap- 
pear to have been sheltered from animadversion, by their own 
demits, and naturally reposed in oblivion. 

Great Britain, too, has had her histories of the war. We have 
seen three: Nicholson's, Clarke's, and Baines'. In addition to the 
EngUsh histories there has been one published in Canada, by a 
Mr. James, cooked and seasoned exactly for the palate of John 
Bull. The first and secondare echoes of the reports of Brit- 
ish commanders, and British ministerial newspapers and maga- 
, zines. The third, which is contained in this volume, differs from 



IV 

them as macli in composition as in cliaracter. It is, as a speci= 
men of history, ver}' superiour to any thing we have, on the same 
subject, in the United States; and on the whole a Uberal and mag- 
nanimous production. It was not expected that the dominions 
of his late majesty, George IH. contained a British subject, who, 
in writing a history of the war with the United States, would 
dare tell John Bull to his teeth, that brother Jonathan had broken 
his nose and spilled his claret: but the reader will find in the 
history of Mr, Baines man)^ instances of this daring. We have 
derived infinite satisfaction from the contents of many chapters 
in this book; because they were writen by a British subject; and 
because the compliments and concessions of a rival are greatly 
more valuable than the plaudits we bestow on ourselves. 

The American reader must excuse the historian for many things 
which we would call errors, when he reflects upon his relation 
to the parties, and the sources from which he has most naturally 
drawn his information. In the end, he has fully compensated the 
pain his mistatements excite, by the honorable admissions to the 
American character, of gallantry, intelligence, and virtue. 

Where we have supposed the historian in error, from the want 
of just information, or from the bias of his feelings in favour of 
his countrymen, we liave corrected liim by a series of notes 
appended to this volume; and where he has indulged too freely 
in praise of British commanders, at the expense of the Amer- 
ican character, we have extended our criticismiS to a just re- 
taliation. W^e have left untouched the original, and have not 
interfered at all witli the notes and references; except to correct 
typographical mistakes and the occasional misnomer of American 
officers. The numerical figures, to be found interpei'sed through- 
out ihe history, refer to the Appendix, where all our animadver- 
sions are inserted. It is not pretended that all occasions for crit- 
icims have been fully improved. This woiild have swelled our 
commentary to an unreasonable size. We have seized only on the 
most important, leaving those merely venial to be occupied by 
the reader; in doing which he will have a full share of amuse- 
ment. On the capture of Washington, and several oilier top- 
ics, we have not enlarged, because we have been unwilhng to 
revive discussions and renew animadversions, which now sleep 
in the calm that has so happily succeeded the tempest of war. 
We feel now as much disposed to forgive and forget the blunders 
and misfortunes of the unsuccessful, as we are qualified more 
justly to appreciate the achievements and exploits of those on 
whom victory was pleased to bestow laurels. To the former we 
would not give a new pang; and from the latter we have not re- 
moved a wreath, though accorded by tlie people transported with 
joy in the moments of triumph, wlien honours were distributed 
without dJscriminalionsand too frequently without regard to merit. 

BALTIMORE, 1820. 



air®^#BW(Pii#sr* 



The relations subsisting between Great Brrtaia 
and tlie United States of America had for raany 
years exliibited a singular aspect. The nations were 
not indeed in a state of open war, but the conflict 
of opposite pretensions, the angry discussion of 
many intricate questions of international law, the 
charges and recriminations whicli had for a num- 
ber of years formed the only subject of their diplo- 
matic intercourse, had diffused over both countries 
a spirit of distrust and animosity, which seemed 
likely to find in war alone its natural gratification. 
In Great Britain an idea prevailed, and seemed in 
a considerable degree to influence the ministry, 
that America liad displayed a very unjustifiable 
spirit of hostility towards this country, while she 
had manifested a decided leaning and partiality 
towards the interests and views of France. This 
opinion appeared to justify those who were decid- 
edly for war with the United States, in giving cur- 
rency to their hostile feelings. But another cir- 
cumstance also operated towards the same end. A 
A 



VI 

»ar with America, it was ai'gued, would be not 
only just but of short continuance, and would ex- 
hibit a scene of uninterrupted and splendid succes- 
ses on our part, and of defeat and disgrace on 
theirs. The Americans, on the other hand, were 
galled and irritated by the attacks made on tlieir 
commerce; by the riglit of search, as claimed and 
exercised by England, not always on the best 
grounds, or in the least offensive manner; and by 
the impressment and detention of their seamen; 
and to these motives for war was probably added 
the hope of conquering Canada, and of enriching 
themselves by the capture of our merchant ships. 

As no doubt could be entertained, that in the 
event of a war between the two countries, Canada 
would be attacked. Sir James Craig, the governor 
of that province, very judiciously took every mea- 
sure which he thouglit could be effectual or condu- 
cive to its protection and defence. Had lie conrni- 
ed himself to this line of conduct alone, no blame 
could have been imputed to him; but he thought 
himself justified in sending a person, of the name 
of Henry, into the United States on a very ambig- 
uous and reprehensible errand. This man was 
seized (I) by the American government, who ob- 
tained possession of his instructions, as well as co- 
pies of the communications which he had made to 
Sir James Craig; and according to the statements 
submitted to congress, the object of captain Henry 
was to ingratiate himself with the fedei-al party; to 
asccrti'.ui its strength, its wishes, and its views, in 
the different states; and more particularly to en- 



Vll 

courage, witli tlic promise of Bi'itisli assistance, 
any design they might be disposed to form for a 
separation of the states. This conduct on the part 
of Great Britain, originating in one of her highest 
authorities in North America, the president, in a 
message to congress, represented as a flagrant 
breach of public faith, committed at a time when 
Great Britain and America were employed in dis- 
cussions of amity and reconciliation. When the 
subject of the mission of Capt. Henry was brought 
•before the British parliament, ministers refused to 
produce the correspondence and papers connected 
with these mysterious transactions, nor did they 
give a very clear and satisfactory account of the 
business. They denied, however, that captain 
Henry was accredited by them, or that they were 
acquainted with the intention of Sir James Craig 
to employ him. Notwithstanding this disavowal, 
the British government had all the disgrace of 
having acted contrary to the law of nations, and 
at the same time, the mortification to perceive tli at 
the American people were more closely united by 
this most injudicious and unjustifiable attempt to 
divide them. 

Before the intelligence of the assassination of 
Mr. Percival (3) reached America, that govern- 
ment had determined on war with Great Britain; 
and early in the month of June, a message was 
sent to the senate and house of representatives, 
containing a recommendation to that cflect. In 
this state paper, the president complains of the 
violation which the American flag has so repeated- 



VIU 

ly suffered from British vessels <<on the great high- 
way of nations;" of the practice of impressing 
American seamen;* of the violation of the Ameri- 
can waters, and of the infraction of the fundamen- 
tal principles of the law of nations, hy the pretend- 
ed ^blockades.' But all these causes of war are in 
the message held as subordinate to the orders in 
council, both in the injustice which they display, 
and in the injury which they inflict. These orders 
^\ere, it is said, evidently framed so as best to suit 
the political views and the commercial jealousies 
of the Britisli government. The consequences which 
would result from them to neutral nations were 
never taken into the account, or if contemplated 
or foreseen as highly prejudicial, that considera- 
tion had no weight in the minds of those by whom 
they were imposed. It was, indeed, attempted t» 
justify them, by an appeal to similar measures 
adopted and carried into execution by France; as 
if America could be satisfied with the unjust and 
injurious conduct of one belligerent, by that bellig- 

* In a publication, issued by the authority of the American 
government, entitled, "An Exposition of the Causes and Char- 
acter of the War with Great Britain," it is stated, that up to 
March, 1811, Great Britain had impressed from the crews of 
American vessels peaceably navigating the high seas, not less 
than SIX thousand mariners, who claimed to be citizens of the 
United States, and who were denied all opportunity of verifying 
their claims. And in the same publication it is added, that w hen 
war was declared, the orders in council had been maintained 
with inexorable hostility, until a thousand American vessels, 
with their cargoes, had been seized and confiscated under the 
operation of these edicts. 



IX 

erent proving that she had heen treated in an 
equally unjust and injurious mariner hy the otlier. 
But, what was the fact? France, indeed, hy her 
Berlin and Milan decrees, manifested her willing- 
ness and disposition to impede and injure neutral 
commerce, in order that she might thus cripple the 
trade of Great Britain; hut these decrees were al- 
most a de.rJ letter; British superiority at sea pre- 
vented them from heing acted upon in any effective 
or permanent manner; it was therefore ahsurd to 
attempt to justify the mischief which actually flow- 
ed to America from the orders in council, hy ap- 
pealing to decrees which, while Britain remained 
mistress of the sea, were utterly without effect. 
The British government were surprised and indig- 
nant that America viewed the conduct of France 
more coolly than the conduct of England; not re- 
collecting that edicts executed against millions of 
American property, could not be a retaliation on 
edicts comparatively impossible to be executed. 
Besides, this plea of retaliation was untenable, 
when viewed in another light. To be just, retalia- 
tion should fall on the party setting the guilty ex- 
ample, and not on the innocent party; which, more- 
overV could not be charged with an acquiescence in 
the injustice practised hy France. 

This message, which was dated the 1st of JuneJ 
was, on the 18th of the same month, succeeded by 
an act of congress, containing a formal declaration 
of war against Great Britain. Five days after 
this declaration of war, the orders in council were 
rescinded by the British, government; but the ar- 

A2 



rival of this intelligence in America did not appear 
in the slightest degree to restore a pacific disposi- 
tion on the part of that government. The orders 
in council, she said, had not been repealed because 
they were unjust in their principle, and highly de- 
trimental in their effects on neutral commerce. On 
the contrary, the motive of their repeal was ob- 
viously selfish, and had no reference to the rights 
of neutral nations. America, to protect herself, 
and to avenge her wrongs, had proliibited all com- 
mercial intercourse with Great Britain. The latter 
power, thus deprived of her best customer, had no 
longer a sufficient and regular market for her man- 
ufactures and colonial produce; her merchants and 
her manufacturers were nearly ruined; distress, 
discontent, and poverty, spread over lier territory; 
complaints and petitions poured in from all quar- 
ters; and the orders in council were repealed, not 
to render justice to America, but to rescue ^ large 
portion of the British people from absolute starva- 
tion. It was, however, stated, that if the revoca- 
tion of the orders in council had taken place suf- 
ficiently early to have been communicated to the 
United States before they had actually declared 
war, the repeal of these decrees against neutral 
commerce would have arrested the resort to arms; 
and that one cause of the war being removed, the 
other essential cause — the practice of impressment, 
would have beeii the subject of renewed negocia- 
tion. But the declaration of war having announc- 
ed the practice of impressment as one of the priii- 



cipal causes, peace could only be tlie result oi' an 
express abandonment of tbat practice.^ 

Such are the causes of war, as stated in the offi- 
cial papers put forth by the government of America; 
but, in a declaration promulgated by the Prince 
Regent of England, sonic montlis after letters of 
marque and reprisals against America had been 
issued, it was stated, «tliat the real origin of the 
contest was to be found in that spirit which had 
long unhappily actuated the councils of the United 
States — their marked partiality in palliating and 
assisting the aggressive tyranny of France; their 
systematic endeavour to injlame the people against 
the defensive measures of Great Britain; their in- 
jurious conduct towards Spain, the immediate ally 
of Great Britain; and their unworthy desertion of 
the cause of other neutral nations." "It is through 
the prevalence of such councils," says the declara- 
tion, "that America has been associated in policy 
with France, and committed in war against Great 
Britain. And under what conduct on the part of 
France has the government of the United States 
thus lent itself to the enemy? The contemptuous 
violation of the commercial treaty of the year 1800, 
between France and the United States; the treach- 
erous seizure of all American vessels and cargoes, 
in every harbour subject to the control of the 
French arms; the tyrannical principles of the Ber- 
lin and Milan decrees, and the confiscations under 
them; the subsequent condemnation under the Ram- 

• Exposition of the Causes and Character of the War with 
Great Britain. 



Xll 

bouillet decree, antedated or concealed to render it 
more effectual; the French commercial ret^ulations, 
which rendered the trafic of the United States with 
France almost illusory; the burning of their mer- 
chant sliips at sea, lon.a^ after the alleged repeal of 
the F'^ench decrees — all these acts of violence on 
the part of France produced from the government 
of the United States on'y such complaints as end 
in acquiescence and submission; or are accompanied 
by suggestions for enabling France to ^ive the 
semblance of legal form to her usurpations, by 
converting them into municipal regulations. This 
disposition of the government of the United States — 
this complete subserviency to the ruler of France — 
this hostile temper towards Great Britain, are evi- 
dent in almost every page of the official correspon- 
dence of the American with the French govern- 
ment, and form the real causes of the present war 
between America and Great Britain."* 

* Declaration of the Prince Regent, dated January 9th, 1813- 



©MABl^M® 3, 



At a period when hostilities raged in Europe to 
an extent almost unexampled, in the year 1812, 
the demon of war extended his dominions to the 
western hemisphere; and his sceptre, after an in- 
terval of nearly thirty years, was again swayed 
over the flourishing regions of North America. 
Disputes, coeval with the wars of the French re- 
volution, had terminated in a formal declaration of 
war against Great Britain hy the congress of the 
United States, passed on the 18th of June, and 
carried in the senate by a majority of nineteen to 
thirteen voices, and in the house of representatives 
by a majority of seventy-nine to forty-nine voices. 
Tiie causes of this decision, it has been already 
seen, resolved themselves into four. The search of 
American ships — the impressment of American sea- 
men — the unlimited extension of the system of 
blockade — and the rigours exercised on neutral 
commerce under the British orders in council. 
The last of these grievances was removed a few 
days after the appearance of the president's pro- 
clamation announcing tlie decision of congress, but 
the other causes of complaint remained unredress- 
ed, and the intelligence of tiie revocation of the or- 
ders iu council did n;)t reach America till hostili- 
ties had actually commenced. 



li. 



THE UNITED STATES 



At the moment when America ventured to de- 
clare war against the most powerful maritime state 
ill tlie world, her own navy, if navy it could bo 
called, did not include one single line of battle 
sliip,* and the utter annihilation of her frigates and 
smaller vessels was predicted in this country with 
a vaunting confidence, that gave increased poig- 
nancy to the disappointment and disasters which 
Great Britain was doomed in the prosecution of 
her naval campaigns to endure. The military 
force of the United States, though numerically for- 



* NAVAL FORCE 

OF THE tryiTJiB STATES OF AMEBICA AT THE COMMEXCEHKXT OP 
HOSTILITIES IN 1812. 





Hated. 
Constitution -il guns. 
United States 44 


JMo^inting. Commanders. 
56 guns. Capt. HuU. 
56 Decatur. 




President 


44 


56 




Com. Rodgers 




Chesapeake 
New- York 
Constellation 
Congress 
Boston 
Essex 
Adams 
e, John Adams 


36 
36 

36 
36 ■ 

32 

'>0 


4t 
44 
44 

44 




Ordinary. 




























32 








Corveti 


26 




Capt, Ludlow. 


Ships 0/ C Wasp 
•war. '^Hornet 


__ 


18 
18 




Capt. Jones. 

Lawrence. 


Brigs 


Siren 


— 


16 




Lieut. Carroll. 




Argus 
Oneida 


z 


16 
IG 




Crane. 
Com. Woolsey. 


Sch'rs. 


Vixen 


-— 


12 




Lieut. Gadsden. 




Nautilus 


— 


12 




Sinclair. 




Enterprise 


— 


12 




Blakeley. 




Viper 


— 


12 




I3ainbridge 



Bonibi — Vengeance, Spitfu-e, Etna, Vesuvius. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 15 

I midable,* was principally of an irregular kind, 
•without discipline, unaccustomed to the hardships 
of war, and destitute of that patient endurance and 
subordinate spirit, without wliich armies, however 

j strong, arc always liable to become the mutinous 

I depositories of panic. 

i The United States of America have always had 
their full share of party spirit — the inseparable 

* MILITARY FOKCE. 

Near!}' the whole of the session of congress preceding the de- 
claration of war by America, was occupied in preparations for 
hostilities: on the 11th of January, 1812, an act was passed for 
raising" ten regiments of infantry, two regiments of artillery, and 
one regiment of light dr^igoons; to be enhsted for five years; 
the infantry to avnount to 20,000, the artillery to 4,000, and the 
cavalry to 1,000 men. On the 6th of the following month, an 
act, autlioi-i/.ing the president of the United States to accept the 
service of certain volunteer corps, not exceeding 50,000, passed 
into a law; and by an act of congress, passed the 1 0th of April, 
detachments from the militia to the amount of 100,000 were voted 
in the following proportions: — 

Xewhampsliire - - - 3,500 Virginia 12,000 

Massiicluisetts - - - 10,000 North Carolina - - - 7,000 
Connecticut - - - - 3,000 South Carolina ... - 5,000 

Rhode Island - - - - 500 Georgia 3,500 

Vermont 3,000 Kentucky 5,500 

New York , - - - 13,000 Ohio 5,000 

New Jersey - - - - 5,000 Tennessee 2,500 

.Pennsylvania - - - U,000 

Delaware 1,000 Total - - - 100,000 

Maryland - . - . C,000 

The regular army of the United States, upon the declaration 
of war, consisted of eleven regiments of the old peace establish- 
ment, estimated at five hundred men each. 

In the naval department, acts were passed for repairing and 
buildiiig frigates, and for making the necessary appropriations 



16 THE UNITED STATES 

concomitant of a free government; and a war so 
differently affecting the different parts of the union, 
could not fail to call forth those violent political 
contentions for which that republic is so much dis- 
tinguished. At Boston, the declaration of war 
was made the signal of a general mourning; all the 
ships in the harbour displayed flags half mast 
high; and in that, as in other cities of the northern 
states, public meetings of the inhabitants were 
held, at which a number of resolutions were passed, 
stigmatizing the approaching contest as unneces- 
sary and ruinous, and as tending to a connection 
with France destructive to American liberty and 
independence. Immediately after the declaration 
of war a party was foi-med, called the "peace par- 
ty," wliich combined nearly the whole of the fede- 
ralists throughout the United States, and by whom 
a steady, systematic, and energetic opposition, 
principally directed against the national finances, 
was maintained to the latest period of the war. 
The demands of this party for the restoration of 
peace were as loud and imperious as had been their 
cry for war in the years 1806-7, and their conduct 
at the two periods appears totally irreconcilable to 
any principle of patriotism and consistency. 

For the defence of the maritime frontier; other acts, apportion- 
ing the sums to be appHed to the support of the army, the navy, 
and the irreg-ular troops, all passed in succession; to meet which 
demands, Mr. Gallatin, the minister of finance, in submitting- the 
budget to cong-ress on the l^th of January, recommended a loan 
of ten millions of dollars for the current year. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 17 

With the democratic paFty, and in the southern 
states, in particular, where swarms of privateers 
were preparing to reap a rich harvest among the 
West India islands, the popular sentiment was de- 
cidedly in favour of war; (3) and of all the cities 
of America in this interest, Baltimore perhaps 
stood in the first rank in zeal and in violence. A 
journal, puhlished in that place, entitled the <«Fed- 
eral Republican," had rendered itself obnoxious by 
its opposition to the measures of government, and 
menaces had been repeatedly thrown out against 
its conductors. On the niglit of the 27th of July a 
mob assembled before the house of the editor, 
which was defended by his friends Mith so much 
gallantry that the assailants from without were 
several times repulsed. At length, towards mid- 
night, a party of military, attended by the mayor, 
were brought to the spot, under the command of 
general Strieker, to whom generals Lee and 
Lingan, wlio had both assisted in defending the 
editor's house, surrendered themselves, along with 
four and twenty other persons, and were conducted 
to the town gaol as a place of security. The mob 
now dispersed, and this ebullition of popular piiren- 
zy would probably have subsided, had not a jour- 
nal, opposed in principle to tlie Federal Republican, 
had the baseness to fan the dying embers, by call- 
ing upon the insurgents not to let their victims es- 
cape without executing vengeance upon them. — 
Roused again to action by this incendiary publica- 
tion, the mob re-assembled, broke open the g«ol, 
and attacked the objects of their fury. In Uie 
B 



18 THE UNITED STATES, 6cC. 

midst of the commotion several of the prisoners 
succeeded in escaping from the hands of their per- 
secutors; but others, less fortunate, were assailed 
with clubs and knives, and left without signs of 
life at the outside of the prison. General Lingan, 
a veteran, upwards of seventy years of age, who 
had fought the battles of his country by the side of 
his friend general Washington, was dragged to 
the door of the prison, and inhumanly butchered 
on the spot. General Lee, a distinguished parti- 
san officer in the revolutionary war, was danger- 
ously wounded; and several others of his federal 
companions shared a similar fate. It is due to the 
Americans to add, that this outrage, which in atro- 
city exceeded the horrors perpetrated by the mobs 
of Birmingham and Manchester about the period 
of the breaking out of the war between Great Bri- 
tain and France, was regarded with indignation in 
every other part of the United States. (4) 



•s^Ai^im 11^ 



X HE first military effort made by America was 
directed against the British province of Upper 
Canada. Early in the year a body of militia, 
amounting to two thousand five liundred men, had 
been i^laced under the command of general Hull; 
and on the 12th of July the American army cross- 
ed the river Detroit, and erected the standard of 
the United States in Upper Canada. The general 
of the invading army, on his arrival at Sandwich, 
issued a proclamation to the British colonists, in- 
viting the militia tp return to tlieir homes, and pro- 
mising to the peaceable inhabitants the ^'blessing 
of peace, liberty, and security,'* 

TROCLAMATION. 

*^ Head-quarters f Sandxvich_ July 12, 1812. 
''inhabitants of Canada! 

"After thirty years of peace and prosperity, 
the United States have been driven to arms. The 
injuries and aggressions, the insults and indigni- 
ties of Great Britain, have once more left them no 
alternative but manly resistance or unconditional 
submission. I'hc army under my command has 
invaded your country. The standard of the union 
now waves over the territory of Canada. To the 
peaceable, unoffending inliabitants it brings neither 



20 THE UNITED STATES 

danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not 
to make them. I come to protect, not to injure 
you. 

<* Separated by an immense ocean and an exten- 
sive wilderness from Great Britain, you have no 
participation in her councils, no interest in her 
conduct. You have felt her tyranny; you have 
vseen her injustice; but I do not ask you to avenge 
the one, or to redress the other. The United 
States are sufficiently powerful to afford every se- 
curity, consistent with their rights and your ex- 
pectations. I tender you tlie invaluable blessing of 
civil, political, and religious liberty, and their ne- 
cessary result, individual and general prosperity; 
that liberty which gave decision to our councils, 
and energy to our conduct, in a struggle for inde- 
pendence, which conducted us safely and trium- 
phantly through the stormy period of the revolu- 
tion — the liberty which has raised us to an elevated 
rank among the nations of the world; and which 
afforded us a greater measure of peace and securi- 
ty, of wealth and improvement, than ever fell to 
the lot of any people. In the name of my country, 
and the authority of government, I promise you 
protection to your persons, property, and rights. 
Remain at your homes; pursue your peaceful and 
customary avocations; raise not your hands against 
your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for 
the freedom and independence we now enjoy. — 
Being children therefore of the same family with 
us, and heirs to the same heritage, the arrival of 
an army of friends must be hailed by you with a 



AND GiREAT BRITAIN. gl 

cordial welcome. You will be emancipated from 
tyranny and oppression, and restored to the digni- 
fied station of freedom. Had I any doubt of event- 
ual success, I might ask your assistance: but I do 
not. I come prepared for every contingency — I 
have a force which will break down all opposition, 
and that force is but the van-guard of a much 
greater. If, contrary to your own interest, and 
the just expectations of my country, you should 
take part in the approaching contest, you will be 
considered and treated as enemies, and the horrors 
and calamities of war will stalk before you. If 
the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain 
be pursued, and the savages are let loose to murder 
our citizens, and butcher our women and children, 
this w^ar will be a war of extermination. The first 
stroke of the tomahawk — the first attempt with the 
scalping-knife, will be the signal of one indiscrimi- 
nate scene of desolation. No white man found 
fighting by the side of an Indian will be taken pri- 
soner — instant death will be his lot. If the dic- 
tates of reason, duty, justice, and humanity, can- 
not prevent the employment of a force which re- 
spects no rights, and knows no wrong, it will be 
prevented by a sevei'e and relentless system of re- 
taliation. I doubt not your courage and firmness — • 
I will not doubt your attachment to liberty. If 
you tender your services voluntarily, they will be 
accepted readily. The United States offer you 
peace, liberty, and security. Your choice lies be- 
tween these, and war, slavery, and destruction. 
Choose then; but choose wisely; and may he who 

B 2 



22 THE UNITED STATES 



knows the justice of our cause, and who holds iii 
his hand the fate of nations, guide you to a result 
the most compatihle with your rights and interests, 
your peace and happiness. By the general, 

<*A. P. HULL." 



This proclamation, whicli expressed the utmost 
confidence of success, threatened a war of extermi- 
nation in case of the employment of the Indian 
trihes, which appear to have heen the ohjects of 
general Hull's peculiar dread and apprehension. 
The Indians were however already engaged in 
hostilities with the subjects (5) of the United States; 
and on the 17th of July intelligence was received of 
the capture of Fort Michilimachinack, the most 
northern military post in the United States, by a 
combined operation of the British, the Canadians, 
and the savages. 

After passing the line of demarkation, by which 
the British settlements in North America are se- 
parated from the territory of the United States, 
general Hull advanced against Fort Amherstburg, 
or Maiden, the garrison of which consisted of 
about six hundred men, under the command of 
Lieut. Col. St. George. Here the American gene- 
ral received his first check, and was three times 
repulsed in his attempt to cross the Canard ri- 
ver. (6) General Sir George Prevost, the British 
governor in chief, with a laudable display of promp- 
titude and skill, had made all the arrangements in 
his power for the defence of Upper Canada, and 
the command of the force destined for this purpose, 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 23 

consisting of tliirty royal artillery men, two Lun- 
dred and fifty regular troops of the 41st regiment, 
four hundred Canadian militia, and six hundred 
Indians, was conferred on major-general Brock. 
It might have been supposed that sucli a foice 
would have proved totally inadequate to meet tlic 
American army; but the defective composition of 
the enemy's troops, and the want of energy and 
skill in their commander, soon displayed them- 
selves in a manner that portended their final over- 
throw. The talents of general Hull were totally 
unequal to the enterprise he had undertaken. Ig- 
norant of the situation and movements of the Bri- 
tish force, which were coming to relieve the fort to 
which he had laid siege, and continually harassed 
and bewildered with various and contradictory re- 
ports concerning the different tribes of the hostile 
Indians, indecision and distrust began to prevail in 
the camp. The plan of attacking Amherstburg w^as 
abandoned, and on the 8th of August the Ameri- 
cans retreated to Detroit, the capital of the Michi- 
gan territory, without even tiic appearance of an 
enemy to pursue thera.*= 

On the arrival of major-general Brock at Am- 
herstburg, on the 13th, he found that colonel Pro- 
tor had begun to erect batteries opposite Fort De- 
troit, and although opposed by a well directed fire 
from seven twenty-four pounders, the works were 
continued without intermission. The force at the 
disposal of the British general being all collected 

• Dispatch from colonel Cass to the Hon. William Eustice, 
the American Secretarv at War. 



£4 THE UNITED STATES 

ill the nejglibourhoorl of Sandwicli, tliey passed the 
river in tiie course of the 15th without molestation, 
and advanced on the following morning to Spring 
Well, an advantageous position three miles west of 
Detroit. The Indians, who had in the mean time 
effected their landing two miles below, moved for- 
wards and occupied the woods, about a mile and a 
half to the west of the British position. Having 
learned that general Hull had dispatched colonel 
M« Arthur, one of his best officers, with a detach- 
ment of five hundred men, to escort a supply of 
provisions from the river Raisin, general Brock 
decided on an immediate attack, and advanced with 
a resolution to carry Detroit on the land side, 
while the Indians penetrated the camp. When the 
head of the Britisli column had arrived within 
^bout five hundred yards of the American lineso 
orders were given by general Hull for the whole 
of his troops to retreat to the fort, and for the ar- 
tillery not to open on the assailants. A white flag, 
hung from the walls, indicated the wish of the 
American general to capitulate; and the terms 
were soon agreed upon. By this capitulation, so 
glorious to the arms of Great Britain, but so dis- 
graceful to the American army, not less than two 
thousand five hundred men became prisoners of 
war, and thirty-three pieces of brass and iron ord- 
nance fell into the hands of the victors. 

In endeavouring to appreciate the motives, and 
to investigate the causes, which led to this decisive 
but bloodless victory, it is impossible to find any 
solution of the mysterious surrender of genera! 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 25 

Hull ill the relative strength of the contending ar- 
mies. In numbers, the Americans were far supe- 
rior to their enemies; and their supply of ammu- 
nition, and provisions, was by no means exhaust- 
ed.^ General Hull, the commander-in-chief, in 
following the course he pursued, acted entirely up- 
on his own responsibility; and when his conduct 
came to be investigated before a court-martial, he 
was found guilty of neglect of duty, unofficer-like 
conduct, and cowardice, and adjudged to be shot; 
but in consideration of "his revolutionary services, 
and his advanced age," the court recommended 
him to mercy; and the president, while he express- 
ed his approbation of the sentence, thought proper 
to remit its execution. 

The British arms were destined to attain yet 
higher honors in the defence of Canada. The sea- 
son was far advanced before tlie Americans could 
collect a suiRcient force upon the Niagara frontier 
to attempt offensive operations; but in the month 
of October, general Van Rensselaer, of the New- 
York militra, fixed his head-quarters at Lewis- 
town, between the Lakes Ontario and Erie, with 
a force under his command amounting to about 
four thousand men, of which fifteen hundred were 
regular troops, and the remainder the militia con- 
tingents of the neighbouring states. Early on the 
morning of the 13th, a division of the enemy's 
troops, under general Wadsworth, embarked near 
the falls of Niagara, and made an attack upon the 

• Picport of colonel Cass to the Secretary at War. 



26 THE UNITED BTATES 

British position of Queenstown. Although tlie day 
had not yet dawned, tliis post was defended with 
undaunted gallantry hy the two flank companies of 
the 49t]i regiment, animated hy tlie presence of 
their gallant chief, major-general Brock, whose 
valuable life was on this occasion devoted to his 
country's service. The British position fell with 
their ever -to-be-lamented general; but reinforce- 
ments of regular troops, militia, and Indians, hav- 
ing been sent up from Fort George, under the di- 
rection of major-general SheafFe, who now assum- 
ed the command of the army, a movement was 
made on the enemy's left, while a body of artillery, 
under the able direction of captain Ilolcroft, sup- 
ported by a body of infantry, engaged him in front. 
This operation was further aided by the judicious 
position which Norton, the Indian chief, had taken 
on the woody high ground above Queenstown. A 
communication being thus opened with Chippaway, 
a junction was formed with farther succours which 
had been ordered from that station. The crisis of 
the battle was now approaching, and a powerful 
reinforcement dispatched to the aid of general 
Wadsworth, from the American side of the river, 
might have secured the victory; but to the utter 
astonishment of the commander-in-cliief, he found 
that the ardour of tlie "unengaged troops'' liad en- 
tirely subsided, and all liis solicitations, tlior.gh 
seconded by the efforts of lieutenant-colonel Bloom, 
and Mr. Justice Peck, could not prevail upon liis 
insubordinate levies to embark to the assistance cf 



AND GREAT BRITAIX. 27 

their companions in arms.* Finding that no rein- 
forcements would pass the river, and being well 
aware that the brave men on the heights were ex- 
hausted, and nearly out of ammunition, boats were 
sent (7) by general Van Rensselaer to cover the 
retreat of the troops under general Wadsworth, 
but the boats were dispersed, and so many of the 
boat-men had lied panic-struck, that only few of 
the vessels quitted the shore. '♦^ At three o'clock in 
the afternoort a vigorous attack was made upon tlie 
enemy's lines, and after a short, but animated con- 
flict, victory again ranged herself under the Bri- 
tish banners, Tlie surrender of general Wads- 
worth, with a force of nine hundred men, to an 
army inferior in numbers, is the best eulogium 
that can be pronounced upon the plan of attack 
adopted by major-general Sheaflfe, and upon the 
zeal and undaunted gallantry that animated every 
officer and soldier in his army. The loss of the 
British army in tlie battle of Queenstown, althougli 
continued for upwards of eight hours, did not ex- 
ceed one hundred men in killed, wounded and mis- 
sing; while the loss of the Americans, including 
deserters, may, without exaggeration, be estimated 
at two tliousand. (8) 

The other operations on the Canadian frontier, 
and upon the lakes of North America, during the 
present year, were attended by no decisive results, 
nor are they of sufficient importance to claim a 
place in general history. During the campaign of 

• Letter from general Van Rensselaer to general Dearborn, 
<iated Lewistown, October U, 1812. 



28 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

1812, the American armies of the north-west and 
the centre, umler Gens. Hull and Van Rensselaer, 
had sustained signal defeats, while the army of the 
north, under general Dearborn, had suffered the 
season to pass in comparative inactivity. The avo- 
cations of a peaceful industry, continued without 
intermission for nearly thirty years, are little suit- 
ed to the sanguinary pursuits of war, and it soon 
became perfectly manifest, that whatever might be 
the native courage of the Americans, their generals 
were destitute of experience, and the officers and 
soldiers required discipline and subordination. =*<= 
As miglit have been expected, all the efforts of 
such armies to conquer the dominions of his Bri- 
tannic majesty in Canada, and the tendency of all 
the belligerent operations which had hitherto taken 
place on the frontier, served only to inspire the 
British with increased confidence, and to involve 
the enemy in disaster and disappointment. 

• At the crisis of tlie battle of Queenstown a large propoi-tion 
pf the militia force answered the orders of their geueral by 
claiming" the privileges of the constitution; and peremptorily 
refused to cross the imaginary line which separated the United 
States from the British dominions, alleging that by the laws of 
their country they were required only to serve within the limits 
of the Union.' 



©MAmm aiE 



The loss and disgrace incurred by the surrender 
of the Amej'ican generals, and the defeat of tlieir 
armies, were considered only as tlie harbingers of 
tlieir further humiliation on that element wiiicli had 
long been the theatre of their adversary's triumj)(is. 
In the vaunfing language of the day, the govern- 
ment and the jieople of the United States were to 
be humbled and brought to a sense of their own in- 
significance by the blockade of their coasts, the 
bombardment of their cities, and the destruction 
of their commerce. The commanders of tlieir 
'pigmy navy,' it was triumphantly and tauntingly 
said, would instantly fly from a force equal to their 
own; and the day was anxiously, but confidently 
anticipated, when an American and a British fri- 
gate sliould meet on the ocean. 

At length the British and American seamen had 
an opportunity of displaying their skill and brave- 
ry. The ships which met on the 19th of August, 
off the coast of Labrador, were the Guerriere, 
captain D acres; and the Constitution, captain 
Hull; the former rated at thirty-eight guns, but 
mounted forty-nine; and the latter rated at forty- 
four guns, but mounted fifty-six. At two o'clock 
in the afternoon, the Constitution bore down upon 
the Guerriere, and at five the frigates come to cJ . e 
C 



30 THE UNITED STATES 

action. After an exchange of broadsides, tlie Con- 
stitution placed herself within pistol shot of her 
antagonist, when captain Hull ordered a brisk iire 
to commence from all her guns, which were double- 
shotted, and so well directed, that in fifteen minutes 
the mizen-mast of the Guerriere went by the board. 
The enemy then placed herself in a situation to 
rake the British frigate, and his grape shot and 
riflemen swept the deck. Captain D acres, per- 
ceiving his perilous situation, endeavoured to clear 
himself of his opponent, and with this view the 
marines and boarders were ordered from the main- 
deck, but no sooner were these orders given, than 
the captain received a violent contusion in his back, 
and Mr. Grant, who commanded the forecastle, 
was carried below severely wounded. T!ie battle 
had now raged for nearly two hours, (9) and the 
fore and main-masts of the Guerriere were s]»ot 
away, and the vessel, thus dismantled, was reduc- 
ed to a mere unmanageable hulk. The wreck was 
no sooner cleared than the sprit-sail gave way; 
and the ship rolled so deep in the sea that her main- 
deck guns were under water. It now became ob- 
vious that all further resistance must prore un- 
availing; and captain Dacres, after a short con- 
sultation with his few remaining officers, deter- 
mined to spare the lives of his valuable crew by 
hauling down his colours, which necessity had 
obliged him to lash to the stump of the mizen-mast. 
The hull of the Guerriere was so much shattered 
that a few more broadsides would have sent her to 
the bottom. Fifteen of her crew were killed, and 



AND GKEAT BRITAIN. 31 

sixty-three wounded, among the former of whom 
was lieutenant Read, and among the latter all the 
principal officers in the ship. The loss of the Con- 
stitution amounted only to seven killed, and seven 
wounded.* Not the least imputation rested on the 
British commander or his ship's company. They 
fouglit with a lieroism deserving of a hetter fatc^ 
and yielded only to unavoidable casualties, and to 
the irresistible superiority of pliysical strength. It 
was soon discovered that the Guerriere was so 
much injured that all attempts to tow her into port 
would be unavailing; and captain Hull, having 
previously ordered all tlie prisoners to be brought 
on board his own sliip, consigned his prize to the 
flames. The conduct of the Americans towards 
their prisoners was that of the brave towards tlie 
brave. The wounded were treated with every mark 
of care and attention; and the lacerated feelings of 
the British sailors were soothed by the sympathy 
of their generous adversaries, who irovv considered 
them rather as their guests than as their enemies. 
It is impossible, adequately, to describe the tri- 
umph of tlie Americans on the occasion of this their 
first naval victory — a victory achieved over the 
lords of the ocean — over those who till now had 
claimed that element as their own, and had driven 
from it all who dared to dispute their maritime 
rights and dominion. The captain and the crew of 
the Constitution, when tliey landed at Boston, were 
received by their grateful fellow-citizens with every 

* American account. — Captain Dacres states the loss of the 
enemy at nine killed, and twelve wounded. 



32 THE UNITBD STATES 

mark of honour and distinction. A splendid enter- 
tainment was given to captain Hull and Iiis ofR- 
cers; and in all the principal towns through which 
he passed, after his return, the war hecame more 
popular, and tlie spirit of marine enterprise more 
animated and enthusiastic. The legislature of 
Kew-York, the council of the cities of Albany and 
Savannah, the house of representatives of Massa- 
chusetts, and the congress of the United States, 
voted their unanimous thanks (10) to the captain 
of the Constitution and his oflicers and crew; and 
as a further testimony of the estimation in which 
their services w^ere held, congress voted the sum of 
fifty thousand dollars to Capt. Hull and his crew, as 
an indemnification for the loss tliey had sustained 
by the destruction of their prize after the battle. 
In England tiie capture of tlie Guerriere created 
astonishment not unmixed with dismay. By many 
ca})tain D acres was censured for not having gone 
to the bottom with his ship instead of striking his 
colours, as if the humiliation of the country would 
have been lessened by such a prodigal and unavail- 
ing expenditure of the lives of the most gallant of 
her sons. Others, though they deeply lamented 
tlie occurrence, did not regard it as a disgrace to 
British valour, when the relative force of the con- 
flicting frigates was fairly taken into consideration. 
The Constitution was the superior of the Guerriere 
in every respect; she was a larger vessel; better 
prepared both for sailing and for action; her guns, 
as has been already seen, were more numerous in 
the proportion of fifty-six to forty-nine; her weiglit 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. S3 

of metal gave her a still furtlier advantage; and 
while her number of men amounted to four hundred 
and seventy-six, the Guerriere, on coming into ac- 
tion, could only muster at quarters two hundred 
and forty-four men, and nineteen boys. Still, with 
all these advantages, had she been a French frigate, 
she probably would have been captured, and as- 
suredly she would not have captured her antago- 
nist. Of this both nations were sensible; so that 
the result of the action decisively proved, not that 
the xVmericans were our masters, but that they were 
more nearly on a level with us on our own element 
than any European enemy. 

The balance of success in the naval war continu- 
ed to preponderate on the side of tlie Americans, 
and the fate of the Guerriere proved, unfortunate- 
ly, not a solitary case. Besides the numerous cap- 
tures made by their jirivateers, actions took place 
between ships of war, which tended to establish 
their claims to rank with the British, and to aug- 
ment the confidence already inspired by the success 
of their maritime tactics. On the 18th of October, 
his majesty's armed brig the Frolic, captain Thom- 
as Whinyates, convoying six valuable merchant- 
ships from Honduras to England, while in the act 
of repairing damages to her masts and sails, re- 
ceived in a violent gale on the preceding night, des- 
cried an American brig, which gave chase to the 
convoy. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon this 
vessel, which proved to be the Wasp, captain Jacob 
Jones, bore down upon the Frolick, and the two 
brigs came to close action, off the island of Bermu- 
C 2 



34 THE UNITED STATES 

da. The superior iire of the British guns gave 
every reason to suppose that the contest would 
speedily terminate in their favour. This expecta- 
tion was favoured by the main-top-mast of the Wasp 
being shot away in a fcv/ minutes after the battle 
commenced, ar^d falling witii the maia-tnp-sail-yard 
across the fore-top-sail-braces, her head became 
immana^eable during tlie rest of the action. To 
counteract the Cirects of this disaster, the Ameri- 
cans shot ahead of the Frolic, raked her, and then 
resumed her position on the larboard bow. The 
fite of the Wasp was now obviou^ily attended with 
great success, and the braces of tlie Frolic being 
shot away, she became unmanageable. After lay- 
ing sometime exposed to a most destructive fire, 
which she was unable to return, the enemy board- 
ed, and hauled down the British ensign, in forty- 
three minutes after the discharge of the first shot. 
On passing from the bowsprit to the forecastle, the 
Americans were surprised to see not a single man 
alive on the deck of the Frolic, except the seaman 
at the w^ieel, and three officers; and of the whole 
crew, consisting originally of one hundred and ten 
men, all, except twenty, were numbered among 
either the killed or the wounded. The Frolic, it 
appears, mounted sixteen thirty-two pounders, four 
twelve pounders on the main-deck, and two twelve 
pound carronades; while the Wasp mounted only 
sixteen thirty-two pounders, and two twelve pound 
carronades; the superiority in number of cannon 
was therefore on the side of the British, and the 
number of men was nearly equal; but the violent 



AND GREAT BRITAIX. 35 

storm of the preceding day had crippled tlie P'rol- 
ic, and it is to this cause thatcaptaiii Whi^yates, in 
his official letter to sir John Borlase Warren, t!ic 
admiral of the station, attributes the disastrous re- 
sult. 

On the afternoon of tlie same day, his majesty's 
ship Poictiers, of seventy-four g'iius, coiisiiianded 
by captain sir John Bcrest'ord, iiove in sight, and 
after rc-capturing the Frolic, and making a prize 
of the Wasp, carried hoth the rival brigs into Ber- 
muda. On the return of captain Jones to the Uni- 
ted States, he was every where received vvitli de- 
monstrations of gratitude and admiration. The 
legislature of Delaware appointed a committee to 
wait upon him with their tlianks, and to express 
tlie pride and pleasure they felt in i-ccognizing him 
as a native of their states the congress of the United 
States passed an unanimous vote of tlianks (11) to 
the captain, his officers, and his crew, for their 
distinguisiied gallantry and success, accompanying 
their vote by twenty-five thousand dollars, as a com- 
pensation for the loss they had sustained by tlie re- 
capture of the Frolic; and as a still more substan- 
tial testimony of approbation, the captain was im- 
mediately appointed to the command of the Mace- 
donian frigate. 

Other naval triumphs yet awaited the Americans; 
and the complaints of the British nation respecting 
the mode in which this war was conducted were 
augmented by the intelligence of the capture of an- 
other frigate, under circumstances very similar to 
those which took place on the capture of the Guer- 



S6 THE UNITED STATES 

riere. Early in the morning of the 25th of Octo- 
ber, the Macedonian frigate, captain John Siirman 
Garden, being in latitude 29 N. 29 deg. 3-0 min. W. 
descried a ship, which proved to be a frigate of the 
first class, under American colours, commanded by 
captain Decatur. At nine o'clock in the morning 
the vessels were brought into action, and the Ma- 
cedonian being to windward, had the advantage of 
engaging at her own distance. After the battle 
had raged about half an hour, captain Garden came 
to close quarters. In this situation it was soon dis- 
covered that the superior force of the enemy was, 
if possible, more advantageous to him than it had 
been before, and the only hopes of the British com- 
mander rested upon some fortunate occurrence, 
which might turn tlie engagement in his favour, or 
at least afford him an opportunity of escape. With 
this hope, the battle was continued for upwards of 
two hours, and until the British frigate became a 
'^perfect wreck — an unmanageable log," The 
mizen-mast'was shot away by the board, the top- 
mast carried off by the caps, the main-yard shiv- 
ered in pieces, and the rigging completely destroy- 
ed; all the guns on the quarter deck, and forecas- 
tle were disabled and filled with wreck except two,* 
several shot had struck the vessel between v/ind 
and water; a large proportion of the crew were 
killed or wounded; and the enemy, who was com- 
paratively in good order, was preparing to place 
herself in a raking position. In this disastrous sit- 
uation captain Garden was reduced to the painful 
extremity of surrendering his majesty's ship. Eve- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. S7 

ry effort that gallantry and skill could effect had been 
put forth, and no other alternative remained. To 
have continued the action longer would have been 
a wanton sacrifice of tiie lives of liis brave crew; 
the Macedonian could no longer fight, and had be- 
come a mere target to receive the enemy's fire. 

The noble and animating conduct of the brave 
crew of the Macedonian rendered them dear to 
their country even in misfortune. The first lieu- 
tenant, Hoi)e, was severely wounded in the head 
towards the close of the action, and carried below, 
but no persuasion of his fellow-sufferers, nor any 
representation of the dangerous nature of the wound, 
could keep him from his post; after a slight dress- 
ing had been applied to his wound, he again rushed 
upon deck, and displayed, says his captain, that 
greatness of mind, and those persevering exertions, 
which may be equalled, but never can be excelled. 
The loss of the British was very severe; thirty-six 
men were killed, and the same number severely 
wounded, many of them without hopes of recovery, 
in addition to which thirty -two were slightly wound- 
ed, constituting an aggregate number exceeding 
one-third part of the whole crew. The masts, hull, 
and rigging of the American frigate had suffered 
considerably, but not at all in comparison with the 
Macedonian, and her loss in killed and wounded 
amounted to only five of the former, and seven of 
the latter. 

The Macedonian was one of the finest frigates 
in the British navy; inferior, indeed, in size and 
weight of metal, to the Endymion, and the Cam- 



38 THE UNITED STATES 

brlan, but superior to tliem in every other particu- 
lar. Tliough rated at only thirty-eight, she mount- 
ed forty-nine guns, and had not been more than two 
years off the stocks. Her adversary, the United 
States, like the President and Constitution frigates, 
was built with the scantling of a seventy -four gun 
ship, mounted thirty-two long twenty-four pound- 
ers, and twenty-two forty-two pound carronades, 
with howitzer guns on her tops, and a travelling 
carronade in her under deck. The seamen of 
their frigates form the elite of tlio American navy, 
and such is the combined power of space and air 
between the decks, that those of the first class can 
accommodate fire hundred men, and tlie United 
States had on board at the time of the action four 
hundred and seventy- eight. These details are 
drawn principally from Captain Carden's dis- 
patches; but it is proper to state that the Ameri- 
cans assert that their carronades are not forty -two 
but thirty -two pounders; and the following compa- 
rison between the United States and the Macedo- 
nian frigate is drawn from their naval records: — 

United States— l^en^th of deck-176 feet; 

" " Breadth of beam- 48 <« Burthen, 1,405 tons. 

Macedonian Length of deck-166 " 

" Breadth of beam- 48^ « Burthen, 1,325 tons. 

"Each vessel," they add, "has fifteen ports on 
each side on the main deck; the United States 
carries twenty-four, and the Macedonian eigliteen 
pounders thereon; the carronades of each on the 
quarter-deck and fore-castle arc of the like calibre; 
and the only further difference is, that the United 
States had five more of them." 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 39 

The mere superiority of force on the part of tlie 
Americans will not fully account for all the cir- 
cumstances of the capture of the Macedonian. — 
The United States frigate seems to have been ma- 
noeuvred and fought with a high degree of skill, 
as well as bravery; in all engagements between 
English and French ships, where tlie latter were 
superior in force to the former, the success of the 
English depended as much upon the display and 
exercise of skill and seajnanship as on superior 
bravery, and these advantages generally decided 
the contest in a sliort time after its commencement. 
But in the action now under consideiation, as well 
as in that between the Guerriere and Constitution, 
the seamanship displayed by tlie Americans was at 
least equal to that exhibited by the British; and 
when to tliis is added tiie disparity of force between 
the two frigates, the result of the battle may be 
satisfactorily accounted for. "With France, Spain, 
or any of the European powers, the superiority of 
force on the part of the enemy has seldom stood in 
the way of victory, but in engagements with Ame- 
rican vessels it was found that nothing short of an 
equality of force could secure and maintain the re- 
nown of the British navy. The reception of cap- 
tain Garden on board the United States was truly 
characteristic — on presenting his sword to captain 
Decatur, the gallant American observed, that he 
could not think of receiving the sword of an officer 
who had that day proved that he knew so well how 
to use it; but instead of taking his sword he should 
be happy to take him by the hand. The congress 



40 THE UNITED STATES 

of the United States, and other public bodies, emir- 
latedeach other in awarding manifestations of pub- 
lic esteem to captain Decatur and his crew, and 
the spirit of navai enterprise was cherished and 
inflamed by the honours and distinctions showered 
down by a grateful country on the heads of her 
heroic defenders. 

The naval campaign of the present year was 
closed by another American victory. On the 29th 
of December, the Java frigate, captain Lambert, 
being off the coast of Brazil, on her passage to the 
East Indies, perceived a strange sail, which was 
soon found to be the American frigate the Consti- 
tution, now under the command of commodore 
William Bainb ridge. After some time spent in 
nautical manoeuvres, ft)r the purpose of obtaining 
advantageous positions, the two frigates came into 
action about two o'clock in the afternoon, and the 
fire of the Americans was directed with so much 
skill and precision against the masts and rigging 
of the Java, as to carry away the bow-sprit and the 
jib-boom, and to disable her from preserving the 
weatlicr gage. The contest having raged for up- 
wards of an hour much to the disadvantage of the 
British, captain Lambert endeavoured to extricate 
himself from the raking fire of the enemy by or- 
dering his ship to be laid on board; but at this 
critical moment, when the disasters of the day 
might have been retrieved, his foremast was shot 
away, and the main-top-mast went over board, 
leaving the ship totally unmanageable, and the 
principal part of her starboard guns rendered use- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 4 i 

less by the wreck under which they were buried. 
To aggravate the misfortunes of the Java, her gal- 
lant captain, who had hitherto directed and ani- 
mated the crew by his skill and valour, received a 
dangerous wound in his breast, and was obliged to 
quit his station. The command, in consequence of 
this event, devolved on lieutenant Cliads, who dis- 
charged his arduous duty in a manner worthy of 
his commander. But it was too clear that all the 
efforts made to prevent the British frigate from 
falling into the hands of tlie Americans would be 
unavailing. Her guns were so much covered that 
not more than two or three of them could be fired; 
while the enemy, comparatively little disabled either 
for manoeuvring or fighting, and fully sensible of 
the crippled state of the Java, continued to pour 
into her hull a destructive and well-directed fire. 
At five minutes past four o'clock, the Java's fire 
being completely silenced, and her colours no longer 
visible, commodore Bainbridge concluded that she 
had struck, and shot a-head to repair his rigging; 
but while engaged in this service, it was discovered 
that the British colours still waved from the stump 
of the mizen-mast. This discovery was no sooner 
made than the Constitution bore down again upon 
her; and, having got close under her bows, was 
preparing to rake her with a broadside; when lieu- 
tenant Chads, feeling that he could not be justified 
in squandering the blood of his crew in a resist- 
ance now become so utterly hopeless, surrendered 
his frigate with extreme reluctance into the hands 

of the enemy. 

D 



42 THE UNITED STATES 

It was soon perceived that the crew of the Java 
Lad fought their ship with so much gallantry, that 
she was not in a condition to be preserved as a 
trophy of American victory; and commodore Bain- 
bridge, having rem.oved her crew and stores with 
all the expedition that his slender means would af- 
ford, ordered her to be destroyed. The loss on 
both sides was very great; but that of the Java, 
from the circumstances of the engagement, was the 
most severe. Captain Lambert survived the loss 
of his ship only six days; and by the returns made 
to the admiralty by lieutenant Chads, it appeared 
that twenty-two of his crew were killed, and one 
hundred and two wounded. On the same authority 
it is stated, that the Constitution had ten men kill- 
ed, and forty-six wounded; but the American ac- 
counts reduce their own loss to nine killed, and 
twenty-five wounded, among the latter of whom 
was the commodore himself. The disparity of 
force between the Java and the Constitution was 
nearly the same as between the Constitution and 
the Guerriere; and it is to this cause, no doubt, 
that the success of tlie Americans is principally to 
be attributed. 

Those who regarded these repeated naval tri- 
umphs of the enemy with the most gloomy and 
desponding apprehensions, predicted from them the 
utter annihilation, in the breasts of our seamen, of 
that proud confidence which had hithei-to been so 
eminently serviceable in leading them on to victory: 
hut more sanguine politicians drew an opposite in- 
ference, ; Kd maintained that British seamen, in- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 43 

stead of being discouraged by disaster, would be 
stimulated to fresh exertion, and would anxiously 
await the moment that should present the oppor- 
tunity to wipe off the stain cast upon their laurels; 
that in future they would go into battle with 
American ships, certainly with a more just and 
better regulated estimate of the skill and bravery 
to which they were opposed, and at the same time, 
with a more fixed and glowing determination that 
the sceptre of the ocean should not be wrested 
from their grasp — and happily for the country 
such was the fact. 



©^AME IT* 



During the interval between the breaking out of 
the war and the close of the year 1812, the elec- 
tions took place, and the federal party, in common 
with the people of Great Britain, cherished the 
expectation that the power and influence of Mr. 
Madison, and the war party in America, were 
nearly at an end. It was supposed that the dis- 
graceful and disastrous issue of the campaign in 
Canada, which was imputed to the ignorance and 
neglect of government, would shake the stability 
of his power; but this expectation, like many of 
the other conjectures formed in this country, with- 
out adequate local knowledge, and without a clear 
view of t!ie character of the people of the United 
States, proved altogether fallacious. The disas- 
ters in Canada, instead of rendering the war more 
generally and decidedly unpopular, changed the 
dislike which had been entertained for it in the 
northern states into a determination to prosecute 
the contest with increased vigour. The honour of 
the country, it was conceived, was now interested; 
and it was held to be the incumbent duty of all not 
to sue for peace in the moment of defeat. Even 
those who condemned the war at its comment cment, 
and who passed resolutions foretelling the disasters 
that would follow in its train, now that those dis- 

D 2 



46 THE UNITED STATES 

asters, or others equally severe, had occurred, be- 
came eager for the prosecution of hostilities. From 
this wayward disposition on the part of some, from 
the exultation of others in the triumphs which 
America had obtained at sea, and from other causes 
not so easily ascertainable, the democratic interest 
was strengthened, and on the 2d of December, the 
re-election of Mr. Madison was secured. 

No sooner had the American government de- 
clared w^ar against Great Britain, than Mr. Mon- 
roe, the secretary of state, addressing a letter to 
Mr. Russell, the charge des affaires at the court of 
St. James, dated the 20th of June, stating that 
the war had been resorted to from necessity, and 
of course with reluctance, . and commissioning him 
to apprise the British government, that the govern- 
ment of America looked forward to the restoration 
of peace with much interest, and a sincere desire 
to promote that blessing on conditions just, equal, 
and honourable to both parties; that it was in the 
power of Great Britain to terminate the war upon 
such conditions; and that it would be highly satis- 
factory to the president of the United States to 
concur in any arrangement to tliat effect. The 
causes of complaint against the British govern- 
ment were represented as numerous and weighty; 
but the orders in council, and other blockades, 
were considered of the highest importance; and 
Mr. Russell was authorized to negotiate an armis- 
tice by sea and land, on the conditions that the or- 
ders in council should be repealed — the impress- 
ment of American seamen discontinued — and those 



AND GRE4T BHITAlN. 47 

already impressed restored; and as an inducement 
to tlie British government to discontinue tlieir 
practice of imj)rcssment, Mr. Russell was further 
instructed, to give a positive assurance tliat a law 
would be passed, to be reciprocal, to prohibit the 
employment of British seamen in the public or 
commercial service of the United States. On the 
arrival of these instructions, Mr. Russell hastened 
to execute the important duties which now devolved 
upou him; and on the 21st of August, he addressed 
a letter to lord Castlereagh, proposing an armis- 
tice, upon the terms specified in the above instruc- 
tions; assuring his lordsiiip at the same time, that 
the proposed arrangement for proliibiting the em- 
ployment of British seamoii, would piove more 
efficacious in securing to Great Britain her sub- 
jects than the practice of impressment, so deroga- 
tory to the sovereign attributes of the United States, 
and so incompatible with the personal rights of her 
citizens. 

Lord Castlereagh, in his answer to this dispatch, 
bearing date tiie 20th of the same month, informed 
the American ambassador, that trie prince regent 
felt himself under the necessity of declining to ac- 
cede to the propositions contained in his letter of 
tke 2>th instant, as being on various grounds ab- 
solutely inadmissablc. In making this communi- 
cation, his lordship announced that measures had 
already been taken to authorize the British admi- 
ral on the American station to propose to the 
United States an immediate and reciprocal revoca- 
tion of all hostile orders, with the tender of giving 



48 THE UNITED STATES 

full effect, in the event of hostilities being discon- 
tinued, to the provisions of tlie edict for repealing 
the orders in council, upon conditions therein spe- 
cified. On the proposition submitted by Mr. Rus- 
sell, relating to impressment, his lordship observ- 
ed; that he could not refrain from expressing his 
surprise, that the government of the United States 
should have thought fit to demand that the British 
government should desist from its ancient and ac- 
customed practice of impressing British seamen 
from the merchant ships of a foreign state, prelimi- 
nary even to the suspension of hostilities, and sim- 
ply on the assurance that a law should hereafter 
be passed to proliibit the employment of British 
seamen in the public or commercial service of that 
state. His lordship further remarked, that' the 
"British government now, as heretofore, was ready 
to receive from the government of the United 
States, and amicably to discuss any proposition 
which professed to have in view, either to check 
abuse in the practice of impressment, or to accom- 
plish, by means less liable to vexation, the object 
for which impressment had hitherto been found 
necessary; but they could not consent to suspend 
the exercise of a right, upon which the naval 
strength of the empire mainly depends, until they 
were fully convinced that means could be devised, 
and would be adopted, by which the object to be 
attained by the exercise of that right could be eflfec- 
tually secured." 

On the receipt of lord Castlereagh's letter an- 
nouncing the determination of the prince regent 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 49 

not to accede to the proposition for a suspension of 
bostilities on the conditions proposed in Mr. Rus- 
sell's note of the 21st of August, the American 
ambassador signified to the British government his 
intention to embark immediately, in the ship Lark, 
for the United States; and on the following day an 
admiralty order for the protection of that vessel, 
as a cartel on her way to America, with the requi- 
site passports for his free embarkation, were trans- 
mitted to Mr. Russell from the office of the secre- 
tary of state. 

While tbis diplomatic correspondence was pass- 
ing in England, a negotiation contemplating a 
similar object was commenced in America. On 
the 30th of September, Sir John Borlase Warren, 
the British admiral on the Halifax station, address- 
ed a letter to Mr, Monroe, apprising him of the 
revocation of the orders in council, and informing 
the American secretary that he had the commands 
of the prince regent to propose, on the one hand, 
"that the government of the United States should 
instantly recall their letters of marque and repri- 
sal against British ships, together with all orders 
and instructions for any act of hostility whatever 
against the territory of his majesty, or the persons 
or property of his subjects;" and to promise, on 
the other, if the American government acquiesced 
in the preceding proposition; «that instructions 
should be issued to all the officers under his com- 
mand to desist from corresponding measures of 
war against the ships and property of the United 
States, and that he would transmit without delay 



50 THE UNITED STATES 

corresponding instructions to the several parts of 
the world where hostilities might have been com- 
menced." This overture was subject to the quali- 
fication, that should the American government ac- 
cede to the proposal for terminating hostilities, the 
British admiral was authorized to enter into an 
arrangement with the United States, for tlie revo- 
cation of the laws interdicting the commerce and 
ships of war of Great Britain from the harbours 
and waters of the United States; and was accom- 
panied by an intimation that, in default of such re- 
vocation within a reasonable period to be agreed 
upon, the British orders in council, repealed con- 
ditionally by an edict of the 23d of June last, would 
be revived. 

In reply to this dispatch, Mr. Monroe, in a letter 
dated from Washington, the seat of government, 
on the 23d of October, after adverting to the fail- 
ure of Mr. Russell's negotiations, states that, "ex- 
perience had sufficiently evinced that no peace be- 
tween the two countries could be durable unless 
the question regarding the important interest of 
impressment were settled." <<The claim of the 
British government," says the American secretary, 
<^is to take from the merchant vessels of other 
countries British subjects. In the practice, the 
commanders of British ships of war often take 
from the mercliant vessels of the United States, 
American citizens. If the United States prohibit 
the employment of British subjects in their service, 
and inforce the proliibition by suitable regulations 
and penalties, the motive for the practice is takeu 



AND GREAT BRITAIN* 51 

away. It is in this mode that the president is wil- 
ling to accommodate this important controversy 
with the British government, and it cannot be con- 
ceived on what ground the arrangement can be re- 
fused." <*He is willing that Great Britain shall 
be secured against the evils of wliich she complains; 
but he seeks, on the other hand, that the citizens 
of the United States should be protected against a 
practice, which, wliile it degrades the nation, de- 
prives them of their rights as freemen, takes them 
by force from their families and their country into 
a foreign service, to fight the battles of a foreign 
power, perhaps agaii.st their own kindred and 
country." A suspension of the practice of im- 
pressment Mr. Monroe considered as the necessary 
consequence of an armistice; but it was by no 
nieans intended that Gicat Britain should suspend 
immediately the exercise of a right on the mere 
assurance of tlie American government, that a law 
would he afterwards passed to prohibit the employ- 
ment of British seamen in the service of the United 
States^. All that was meant, as the supplementary 
instructions sent to Mi*. Russell on the 27th of July, 
distinctly explained; was, that a clear and distinct 
understanding with the British government on the 
subject of impressment, comprising in it the dis- 
charge of men already injpressed, sliould take place, 
but it was not held necessary that the several points 
should be specially provided for in the convention 
stipulating the armistice. The American secreta- 
ry,, in conclusion, intimated, that if the suspension 
of the British claim to impressment during the 



52 THE UNITED STATES 

armistice, interposed any difficulty in the way of 
an accommodation of the existing differences, there 
could he no ohjection to proceed without the armis- 
tice to an immediate discussion and arrangement 
of an article on that suhject. 

The powers invested in Sir J. B. Warren were 
not sufficiently extensive to allow him to enter on 
the question of impressment; and thus, by the punc- 
tilious tenacity of the rival states, the sword was 
prevented from being returned to the scabbard. 

In the annual exposition submitted by the presi- 
dent of the United States to the senate and house 
of representatives assembled in congress on the 4th 
of November, the message adverted to the negotia- 
tions undertaken for the purpose of arresting the 
progress of war without waiting the delays of a 
formal and final pacification; but while a faint ex- 
pectation was held out that they might result favor- 
ably, Mr. Madison held it to be unwise to relax 
any of the measures of government on that pre- 
sumption. The expedition into the Michigan ter- 
ritory, confided to the command of general Hull, 
was represented as a measure of precaution and 
forecast, with a view, in the first instance, to its 
security, and in the event of a war, to sucli opera- 
tions in Upper Canada as would intercept the hos- 
tile influence of Great Britain over the savages; 
obtain the command of the lake on which that part 
of Canada borders; and maintain co-operating re- 
lations with such forces as might be most conven- 
iently employed against otlier parts. This expedi- 
tion, tiiough favoured with the prospect of an easy 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 53 

and victorious progress, terminated unfortunately, 
and the cause of these painful reverses was under 
the investii^ation of a military tribunal. A dis- 
tinguishing feature of the operations which preced- 
ed and followed the surrender of general Hull and 
his army, was the use made by the British of the 
merciless savages under their influence, in viola- 
tion of the laws of iionourable warfare — contrary 
to the benevolent policy of the United States — and 
against the feelings sacred to humanity. The mis- 
fortune at Detroit was not without consoling effects; 
the loss of an important post, and of the brave men 
surrendered with it, inspired every wiiere new 
ardour and devotion; every citizen was eager to 
fly to arms to protect his brethren against the 
blood-thirsty savages let loose by the Britisli on 
an extensive frontier; and brigadier-general Har- 
rison, with an ample foi*ce under his command, 
was proceeding on his destination towards the 
Michigan territory. On the Niagara frontier, a 
detachment of the regular and other forces, under 
tlie command of major-general Van Rensselaer, 
impelled by their military ardour, made an attack 
upon a British post, and were for a time victorious; 
but not receiving the expected support, they were 
compelled to yield to reinforcements of British re- 
gulars and savages. On the lakes, preparations 
were making to secure a naval ascendency, so es- 
sential to a permanent peace with, and a controul 
over the savages. Among the incidents of the 
measures of war, the president was constrained to 
advert to tl»e refusal of the governors of Massa- 
E 



54 THE UNITED STATES 

chusetts and Connecticut, to furnish the requisite 
<letachments of militia towards the defence of the 
maritime frontier; and to intimate, that if the au- 
thority of the United States to call into service, 
and command the militia for the public defence, 
could tlius be frustrated, the public safety might 
have no other resource than those of large and per- 
manent military establishments, which are forbid- 
den by the principles of a free government. On 
the coasts and on the ocean, the war had been as 
successful as the circumstances, from its early 
stage, could promise: Great Britain had become 
sensible of the difference between a reciprocity of 
captures, and the long confinement of them to their 
own side. Commerce had been much protected by 
a squadron of frigates under commodore Rodgers; 
and in the instance of the frigate Constitution, un- 
der tlie command of captain Hull, in wliich skill 
and bravery were more particularly measured with 
the British, the American flag enjoyed an auspi- 
cious triumph. 

Between France and America, affairs retained 
the posture which they held at the period of the 
last communication to the congress. Notwitli- 
standing the authorized expectation of an early and 
favourable issue of tlie discussions on the tapis, 
they had been procrastinated to tlie latest period; 
and the only intervening occurrence meriting at- 
tention was the promulgation of a French decree, 
purporting to be a definitive repeal of the Berlin 
and Milan decrees. Tlie proceeding, although made 
the ground of the repeal of the British ordei^ in 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 55 

council, was rendered by its time and manner liable 
to many objections. The president, in continuation, 
then shortly adverted to the relations between the 
United States and the other governments of Eu- 
rope and Africa; and represented the Indian tribes, 
not under foreign instigation, as remaining at 
peace, and receiving the civilizing attentions whic!i 
had proved so beneficial to them. 

Recurring to the measures to be taken for the 
vigorous prosecution of the war, the president re- 
commended an arrangement, on the subject of the 
pay and t^rm of enlistment, more favourable to tiie 
private soldier. The revision of (he militia laws 
was also suggested; and while it was announc- 
ed, that of the additional ships authorized to be fit- 
ted for the public service, two would be shortly 
ready to sail, a further enlargement of tiie naval 
force of the United States was I'ecommendcd. On 
the subject of finance, the receipts into the treasury 
during the year ending on the 30th of September 
last, were stated to exceed sixteen millions of dol- 
lars, which had been found sufficient to defray all 
the demands on the treasury to that day, including 
a necessary reimbriisemcnt of nearly three millions 
of tlie principal of the public debt; but in the re- 
ceipts into the treasury, a sum of nearly eight 
million eight hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars, received on account of loans, was included. 
It was not to he concealed that the country had 
difficulties to encounter, but at tlie same time it 
abounded with animating considerations, and the 
spirit and strength of the nation were considered 



56 THE UNITED STATES 

})j the president as equal to the support of all its 
rights; consoled as the people were by the reflec- 
tion, that the war in which they were engaged was, 
on their part, a war of neither ambition nor vain 
glory,- waged not in violation of the rights of others, 
but for the maintenance of their own. 

Such was the view of the contest between the 
United States of America and Great Britain, taken 
hy the president, in the mor.th of November, 1812. 
On tlie 30th of the same month, the parliament of 
Great Britain assembled, and the prince regent, in 
addressing the lords and commons on the same 
subject, said: — 

<'The declaration of war by the government of 
the United States of America, was made under cir- 
cumstances which might have afforded a reasonable 
expectation that the amicable relations between the 
two nations would not be long interrupted. It is 
with sincere regret that I am obliged to acquaint 
you, that the conduct and pretensions of that gov- 
ernment have hitherto prevented the conclusion of 
any pacific arrangement. Their measures of hos- 
tility have been directed against the adjoining pro- 
vinces, and every effort has been made to seduce 
the inhabitants of them from their allegiance to his 
majesty. The proofs, however, which I have re- 
ceived of loyalty and attachment from his majesty's 
subjects in North America are highly satisfactory. 
The attempts of the enemy to invade Upper Cana- 
da have not only proved abortive, but by the judi- 
cious arrangements of the governor-general, and 
by the skill and decision with which the military 



AND GREAT BfUTAiy. 57 

operatiojis Jiavc been condiictccJ, the lorces of the 
enemy assembled for that purpose in one quarter 
liave been compelled to capitulate, and in another 
have been completely defeated. My best efforts 
are not wanting for the restoration of peace and 
amity between tlic two countries; but until this ob- 
ject can be obtained without sacrificing the mari- 
time rights of Great Britain, I shall rely upon 
your cordial support in a vigorous prosecution of 
the war." 

From these documents, both emanating from the 
first magistrates in the states, it appears, that in 
each of the liostile countries, the original cause of 
the war, and the responsibility of its continuance, 
was imputed to the enemy. But when the angry 
passions in which this contest was engendered have 
subsided, an impartial posterity will probably ad- 
judge — that although the existence of the British 
orders in council, and the impressment of Ameri- 
can seamen, justified the United States in declar- 
ing war against Great Britain, in the first instance; 
yet, when the former of these evils was removed, 
and when an oifer to suspend hostilities by sea and 
land was made through the medium of the British 
authorities in America, in order to adjust the still 
existing differences, it was the duty of the Ameri- 
can government to have accepted tlie pacific over- 
ture. Since the revocation of the orders in council 
there was in reality no principle at issue between 
the two countries. The limits of the right of 
blockade stand fixed by the law of nations upon 
grounds that admit o£ no serious dispute. With 
E 2 



58 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

regard to the impressment of seamen, America did 
not deny that Great Britain had a right to reclaim 
her own subjects: and the English government did 
not pretend to have any right to impress any who 
were really and truly American citizens. The 
whole quarrel then was about the means of assert- 
ing these rights; and had the ministers of both 
countries, as Mr. Burke expresses it, sought for 
peace in the spirit of peace, there is no reason to 
suppose that two nations, of the same kindred, 
speaking the same tongue, and bound to each other 
by a common interest, would have remained for a 
single month in a state of open hostility. 



©MAPi'ffim T, 



The war between Great Britain and the United 
States of America, though affording none of those 
scenes of imposing grandeur, whicli in some mea- 
sure, compensate to the mind tlie contemplation of 
human misery, was, nevertheless, full of interest; 
and the novelty of some of its principles, with the 
political considerations it involved, fixed the atten- 
tion more forcibly perhaps than the perpetual re- 
currence of similar events in the conflicts between 
long established governments. 

The widely extended scene of military opera- 
tions in America lay principally upon the Canadian 
frontier, extending from the state of Vermont, on 
the southern confines of Lower Canada, to the Mi- 
chigan territory, at the western extremity of Up- 
per Canada. At the opening of the campaign of 
1813, the American army of the west was placed 
at the front of Lake Erie, under general Harrison^ 
the army of the centre, under generals Wilkinson 
and Dearborn, in the vicinity of the falls of Niaga- 
ra, between Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the ar- 
my of the north, under general Hampton, on the 
banks of Lake Champlain.* The object of these 

* The lakes of America, to which reference must so often be 
made in the history of tlie present war, form in extent a species 
of inland ocean, and are navigable for ships of large burthen. 
Lake Superior is esteemed the largest body of fresh water in the 



60 THE ViNlTED STATES 

forces was to invade the two Canadas; and tlie du- 
ty which devolved upon sir George Prevost, the | 
governor-general, or British viceroy, and the ar- 
mies under his command, was to resist their incur- 
sions, and to preserve the integrity of his majesty's 
North American dominions. For this purpose, the 
defence of the Detroit frontier was confided to colo- 
nels Proctor and Vincent, while general Sheaffc, 
acting under the more immediate direction of the 
governor-general, was charged with the defence of 
Lower Canada. 

After the surrender of general Hull, no opera- 
tions of importance took place on the Detroit fron- 
tier till the month of January, 1813, when the 
American general Winchester, commanding tho 

world, being four hundred miles long, and one thousand five hun- 
dred and twenty miles in circumference. Forty rivers pour forth 
their contributions into its vast expanse, and the waters are again 
discharged into Lake Huron, through the straits of St. Mary. 
Next to Superior, Lake Huron claims the pre-eminence. It is 
two hundred and fifty miles long, and one thousand one hundred 
miles in circumference, studded to the north with islands, and 
abounding with commodious harbours. Lake Michigan extends 
from the straits of Milchilemackinac to about forty-two degrees 
north latitude, being nearly three hundred miles in length, and 
at the broadest part seventy-five miles in width. Detroit river 
forms the southern part of the communication between Huron 
and Erie, and was the scene of several important military opera- 
tions during the war. Lake Erie is about two hundred and sixty- 
miles long, and in some parts, seventy miles wide; it is the shal- 
lowest of the great lakes, and the navigation is the most difficult. 
The communication between Erie and Ontario is formed by the 
river Niagara, down which the water flows out of Erie with a fine 
majestic current, about a mile in width. About a mile below 
Chippaway the bank appears to recede from the river, and the 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 61 

right wing of general Harrison's army, marched 
to the attack of Detroit, and concentrated his troops 
at the village of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin. 
On the 22d, tlie Americans, amounting to ahout one 
thousand men, were attacked hy a combined Britisli 
and Indian force, consisting of about five hundred 
regulars and militia, and six hundred Indians, un- 
der the command of colonel I*roctor. The attack 
commenced early in the morning, on the right wing 
of the American army, and was made with so much 
vigour and effect, that after a contest of about a 
quarter of an hour, tliey were driven across the 
river, where their retreat was cut off by a large 
body of Indians stationed in their rear. The left 
wing, being fortified behind a picket fence, sustain- 

current is increased to an awful velocity. The fall continues for 
about half a mile, and wlien arrived at the crisis, called the table 
rock, it sinks one hundred and seventy-six feet below the surface 
of the earth. In a deep channel, the work of ages, it continues 
to run with increased vehemence for upwards of nine miles, du- 
ring which it falls about one hundred and fifty feet, when the cur- 
rent, bursting from beneath the rocks, opens to the breadth of 
half a mile, and liolds a placid course between Queenstown and 
Lewistown, till the congi'egated discharges of all the Upper-Lakes 
are received by Lake Ontario. The Niagara is thirty feet deep: 
and the water flows at tlie rate of three miles an hour, discharg- 
ing about 128,000,000 of gallons every minute! a quantity that 
might seem incredible, were it not a well ascertained fact, that 
the river Mississippi discharges 96,000,000 of gallons every se- 
cond! Lake Champlain, which has no communication with the 
great lakes, is only, in comparison of tliern, a narrow slip of wa- 
ter; it is about one hundred miles long, situated between the 
states of New-York and Vermont, liaving its outlet by the Sorrel, 
and like the Ontario, finds in tlie river St. Lawrence an ample re- 
ceptacle for its redundant streams. 



62 THE UNITED STATES 

ed three separate chari^es, but finding tliemselvos 
at length exposed to a concentric fire, their gener- 
al, who had been taken prisoner by a Wyandot 
chief early in the day, agreed to capitulate, and his 
whole corps was surrendered prisoners of war. In 
this short, but sanguinary engagement, the number 
of killed and wounded on the part of the Americans 
amounted to about five hundred, and their loss in 
prisoners to an equal number. Of the British 
troops, twenty-four only were killed, but one hun- 
dred and fifty-eight were wounded. The slaughter 
made by the Indians on the retreating division of 
the enemy was terrible; scarcely one of them sur- 
vived the battle.* (12) 

After the defeat of the right wing of the Ameri- 
can army, under general Winchester, general Har- 
rison retreated to fort Meigs, and occupied himself! 
unceasingly in strengthening that position, while 
the brigade under general Cooks was actively em- 
ployed during the remainder of the winter in forti- 
fying Upper Sandusky. 

The frequent predatory incursions of the Ameri- 
cans on the Canadian border, near the river St. 
Lawrence, induced sir George Prevost, who arri- 
ved at Prescot on the 61 st of February, to direct 
an attack to be made upon the enemy^s position at 
Ogdensburgh. On the 22d, major Macdonnel, of 
the Glengary light infantry fencibles, at the head 
of about five hundred regulars and militia, crossed 

* Colonel Pi'octor's Dispatches, dated Sandwich, January 23, 
1813. 



AND GREAT liRITAIiST. 63 

tije river, upon the ice, about seven o'clock in the 
morning. The right, commanded by captain Jen- 
kins, of the Glengary regiment, was directed to hold 
the enemy's left in check, and to interrupt his re- 
treat, while major Macdonnel moved on witli the 
left column towards his position in the town, where 
he had posted his heavy field artillery. The depth 
of snow, in some degree, retarded the advance of 
both columns, and exposed them, particularly the 
right, to a heavy cross fire from the batteries of the 
enemy; but pusliing on rapidly, the left column soon 
gained the right bank of the river, and after encoun- 
tering a few discharges of artillery, obliged the ene- 
my's infantry to seek refuge in the houses or in the 
woods. During these transactions, captain Jen- 
kins gallantly led on his column, exposed to the 
heavy fire of seven guns, which he bravely attempt- 
ed to take by the bayonet, though covered by two 
Inmdred of the enemy's best troops. On adv ancing 
to the chai'ge, his left arm was broken to pieces by 
a grape shot; still undauntedly running on with his 
men, he almost immediately afterwards was depri- 
ved of the use of his right arm by a discharge of 
case shot; disregarding all personal considerations, 
he continued nobly to advance, cheering his men 
to the assault, till, exhausted by pain and loss of 
blood, he became unable to move; his company, 
however, continued gallantly to advance, under 
lieutenant M'Auley; but the reserve of militia not 
being able to keep up with the regulars, they were 
compelled to give way, nearly about the time that 
anajor Macdonnel gained the hciglit. The onemy 



64 THE UNITED STATES 

i 

hesitating to surrender at the summons of the ma- 
jor, his eastern hattery was carried, and a detach- 
ment, under captain Eustace, gallantly rushed intc 
the fort, while the Americans, retreating to the 
opposite entrance, abandoned their works, and es- 
caped into the woods. Tlie gallantry and self-de- 
votion of captain Jenkins was the theme of univer- 
sal admiration, and sir George Prevost, in trans^ 
mitting the report of this brilliant achievement tc 
his government, earnestly recommended the muti 
lated hero to the favour and protection of his 
prince. In the battle of Ogdenburgh, which lasted 
little more than an hour, the enemy lost eleven 
pieces of cannon, all liis ordnance, marine commis 
sariat, and quarter-master-generars stores; four 
officers and seventy privates were taken prisoners; 
and two schooners and two gun-boats, together 
with the barracks of Ogdenburgh, were consigned 
to the flames. (13) 

The American army of the centre, at the com 
mencement of the campaign, consisted of about 
seven thousand men; four tliousand of whom were 
stationed in the vicinity of Sackctt's Harbour, and 
tlie remaining three thousand at the head of the 
Niagara r'ivei', near Cape Buffalo. On the 22d o{ 
April, a corps of their best troops, amounting to 
sixteen hundred, under general Dearborn, embark- 
ed on board the flotilla, commaded by commodore 
Cliauncey, at Sackett's Harbour, and in the morn 
ing of the 27th, arrived off York, on the northern 
bank of Lake Ontario. The debarkation of the in- 
vaders was vigorously opposed by major-general 



AND CHEAT BRITAIN. 65 

Sheaffe, at the liead of seven hundred British, and 
one hundred Indian troops; but the sujjcrior num- 
bers of the enemy enabled Iiim to surmount every 
difficulty, and to make good his lauding without 
any material loss. No sooner had the whole of 
their troops gained the banks of the lake, tlian they 
advanced through an intervening wood to the open 
ground, and after carrying one of the British bat- 
teries by assault, moved in columns towards the 
main works. At this moment their progress was 
arrested by the accidental* explosion of a large 
magazine; an immense quantity of stones flew in 
every direction, and general Pike, to whom the 
command of the advancing column was confided, 
became one of the numerous victims of this dread- 
ful casualty. Nor were tlic British troops whol- 
ly exempt from its effects; forty at least of their 
number fell before a force which neither skill nor 
bravery could resist. General Sheaffe finding all 
further resistance unavailing, withdrew from the 
city with his regular troons towards Kingston, and 
left the commanding officer of the militia to treat 
with general Dearborn for the surrender of tiic 
capital of Upper Canada. Tiie loss of the Ameri- 
can army in the battle of York, amounted to three 
hundred and twenty, including thirty-eight killed, 

♦ This explosion is represented in general Dearborn's des- 
patches to the American Secretary at War, as a preconcerted 
measure; no evidence, however, is cjiven in support of the charge; 
and in the absence of all proof, we are bound to consider this 
imputation on the character of the British army as calumnious 
and unfounded. 

F 



66 THE rjflTED STATES 

and two hundred and twenty-two wounded, by the 
explosion. The British loss may be estimated at 
four hundred, of which number three hundred, at 
least, became prisoners. (14) 

The next object of general Dearborn's expedi- 
tion, was the capture of forts George and Erie, and 
on the 8th of May, the American troops evacuated 
the capital of Upper Canada, and proceeded to the 
Niagara frontier. At nine o'clock in tlie morning 
of the 27th, the American flotilla appeared off fort 
George, and the debarkation of the light troops 
immediately commenced. The landing of the troops 
was vigorously resisted by colonel Vincent, the 
British commander; but the numerical superiority 
of the assailants, combined with that coolness and 
intrepidity which experience imparts, and of which 
the Americans had already begun to show several 
examples, overcame all opposition. It now became 
obvious that the place would soon become untena- 
ble; and colonel Vincent, having spiked his guns, 
and destroyed his magazines, abandoned fort 
George to the enemy, but not till he had sustained 
a loss of upwards of three hundred men. The cap- 
ture of fort Erie speedily succeeded the fall of 
fort Greorge; but these conquests were only tran- 
sient, for before the end of the month of June, the 
superiority of the British fleet, under sir James 
Yeo, became so decided, that the Americans in their 
tttrn were obliged to relinquish all the pos s they 
liad acquired on the left bank of the Niagara, (15) 

An action greatly to the credit of the Britisli 
troops, Of ourred on the 6th of June, at Burlington 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 67 

Heights, near the head of Lake Ontario, wliere 
rolonel Vincent was posted with his division. The 
fall of forts George and Erie, had left the Ameri- 
cans at liherty to pursue their successes, and gene- 
rals Chandler and Winder, at the head of three 
thousand five hundred infantry, and two hundred 
and fifty cavalry,=»«= advanced from Forty Mile 
Creek for the purpose of attacking the British 
position. Colonel Vincent, aware of tlie vast suj)er 
riority of force with which he was menaced, dis- 
patched lieutenant-colonel Harvey, with two light 
companies, to reconnoitre the enemy's position, and 
from his report, was led to determine upon a noc- 
turnal attack on the American camp. A force not 
exceeding seven hundred men was destined to this 
enterprize. About two o'clock In the morning, the 
picket was forced, and the attack conimenced. — 
The scene was truly appalling; the yells of the In- 
dians, mingled with the roar of the cannon and 
musketry, were calculated to shake the iron nerves 
even of veteran troops. The British, having pre- 
concerted their measures, charged repeatedly, and 
with considerable effect; while the Americans, sur- 
prised at the dead of niglit, and incapable of dis- 
tinguishing friend from foe, fought to great disad- 
vantage. The result was, that the enemy was 
driven from his camp, and generals Chandler and 
Winder, with more tlian one hundred officers and 
privates, were made prisoners. Tlie British after- 

♦ Colonel Vincent's despatches — Colonel Burn, of the Amcri' 
can service, states, that their number in the field did not exceed 
one thousand. 



68 THE UNITED STATES 

wards marched back to their cantonments, carry- 
ing with them three guns and a brass howitzer, 
captured in the battle^ and the Americans, still 
greatly superiour in number, after re-occupying 
their camp, in order to destroy their incumbrances^ 
commenced a precipitate retreat. (16) 

The last operation on this scene of hostility, pre- 
vious to the final retreat of the Americans, was 
undertaken by lieutenant-colonel Boerstler, having 
under his command a force amounting to about six 
liundred men. The object of this enterprise was 
to cut off the supplies of the British, and to break 
up their small encampments. But on the 24th of 
June, the Americans themselves were attacked 
about nine miles west of Queenstown by a body of 
five hundred Indians, supported by one hundred 
regular British troops. The attack commenced 
on the rear, and was made with so much decision 
and perseverance, that colonel Boerstler, and the 
whole of his corps, surrendered themselves prison- 
ers into the hands of lieutenant-colonel Bishopp. 

While the American army, under general Dear- 
born, and the flotilla, under commodore Chauncey, 
were employed in the expedition against York and 
fort George, a plan of combined operations was 
arranged by Sir George Prevost with commodore 
Sir James Yeo, for the purpose of reducing the 
garrison of Sackett- s Harbour, and taking posses- 
sion of that place. In pursuance of this object, a 
fleet of between thirty and forty boats assembled 
in Kingston harbour^ and at ten o'clock on the 
night of the 28th of May, the expedition, headed 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 69 

by the commodore's ship, sailed for Sackctt's Har- 
bour. It was the intention of colonel Bayncs, to 
wliom the military command of the expedition was 
confided, to have landed in the cove formed by 
Horse Island; but on approaching to that place, it 
was discovered that tlie enemy had lined the neigh- 
bouring woods with infantry, and that a field-piece 
was planted on the shore to give effect to their re- 
sistance. The boats were now directed to pull 
round to the opposite side of the island, where a 
landing was effected in good order, and with little 
loss, though in the face of a corps of the enemy. 
The advance was led by the grenadiers of tlie 100th 
regiment, with a spirit of gallantry which no ob- 
stacle could arrest. A narrow causeway, in many 
places under water, and about four hundred paces 
in length, w hich connected the island with the main 
land, was forced and carried, and a six-pounder, 
by which it was defended, taken. The gun-boats,^ 
which had covered the landing, afforded material 
aid by firing into the woods; but the American 
soldiers, secure behind their trees, were only to be 
dislodged by the point of the bayonet. A vigorous 
charge now took place, and the enemy fled with 
precipitation from their block-house and fort. But 
here the energies of the troops became unavailing. 
The enemy having turned the heavy ordnance of 
his battery to the interior defence of his post; the 
British force first paused, and then re-embarked; 
having failed in tlie principal object of the enter- 
prise, and sustained a loss in killed, wounded and 
f2 



70 THE UNITED STATES 

missing, amounting to two lumdred and fifty-nine 
men.* 

One of the distinguishing characteristics of a 
popular form of government, consists in tiie neces- 
sity under which the executive power is placed to 
account to the country for the hurtliens and suffer- 
ings to which they become subject in a state of war; 
and to shew that no measure, compatible with the 
national honour and safety, is left un attempted to 
procure the restoration of j)eace. This policy was 
steadily pursued by the president of the United 
States; and when the negotiations for an armistice 
between the belligerents had failed, he availed him- 
self with avidity of the offer made by a neutral 
power — the common friend of both Great Britain 
and America, to mediate the existing differences. 
His decision on this point was communicated to 
congress at the opening of their extra session on 
the 25th of May; on which occasion, the president's 
message informed them, that at an early day after 
the close of the last session of congress, an offer 
was formally communicated from the emperor of 
Russia, of his mediation, as the common friend of 
the United States and Great Britain, for the pur- 
pose of facilitating a peace between tliem. <'The 
high character of the emperor Alexander," contin- 
ued the president, <<being a satisfactory pledge for 
the sincerity and impartiality of his offers, the 
proffered mediation was immediately accepted; and 

* Despatch addressed by colonel Baynesto Sir George Prevost, 
dated Kingston, May 30. 1813. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 71 

as a further proof of the disposition of the United 
States to meet their adversary in honourable ex- 
periments for terminating; the war, it was deter- 
mined to avoid intermediate delay, incident to the 
distance of the ])arties, by a definitive provision for 
the contemplated negotiation." For this purpose, 
three citizens, of the first consideration in the 
United States, were ])rovided with the requisite 
powers to conclude a treaty of peace, and dispatch- 
ed to the Russian capital, to negotiate with persons 
clothed with like powers on the part of Great Bri- 
tain. The issue of this pacific manifestation on 
the part of tlie United States, time alone could de- 
cide; but it was deemed higldy i)robable that the 
sentiments of Great Britain towards the imperial 
mediator would produce a ready acceptance of his 
pacific services. In the subsequent parts of the 
president's message, the subject of the impressment 
of American seamen is again discussed, and a 
vigorous prosecution of the war strenuously re- 
commended. 

The extra congress, which concluded its sittings 
in August, conducted the public business with un- 
accustomed dispatch, and with a degree of unanimi- 
ty str-ngly illustrative of the truth, that however 
reluctant a nation may be to involve itself in the 
burthens and embarrassments of war, the govern- 
ment, when the contest is actually commenced, and 
continued under an impression that the honour and 
safety of the state are involved in its issue, will 
always be able to command the national resources. 
The establishment of a system of war taxes capa- 



72 THE UNITED STATES 

ble of defraying the interest of the existing debt, 
and of providing for the interest of future loans, 
was the principal business of the assembly; and 
though considerable difference of opinion existed 
as to the fittest objects of taxation, the majority of 
the representatives of the people gave their support 
to the measures proposed by the committee of ways 
and means. A further loan was authorized of 
seven millions five hundred thousand dollars, for 
the service of the present, and for the first quarter 
in tlie ensuing year; and a variety of acts were 
passed relative to the prosecution and conduct of 
the war. All these measures served to mark the 
progress of a new state towards the condition of 
an old belligerent, and to shew that the inhabitants 
of the new world were not beyond the sphere of 
that perpetual hostility in whicli the greater portion 
of Europe had been so long involved. 

As the season advanced, the operations of the 
campaign on the margin of the lakes became more 
active and important. On the Detroit frontier, 
wliere, till now, success had almost invariably at- 
tended the British arms, a striking reverse of for- 
tune took place, and the Americans, in their turn, 
became the victors. After the defeat and capture 
of general Winchester, the British troops, under 
colonel, now general Proctor, advanced at the 
head of a force of about one thousand regulars and 
militia, and twelve hundred Indians, to the river 
Miama, in expectation of reaching the army under 
general Harrison, which had taken post in fort 
Meigs, near the foot of the Rapids. From the in- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 73 

cessant and heavy rains, during which the British 
batteries were erected opposite the fort, it was not 
till the morning of the 1st of May, that tlie siege 
of Meigs could be commenced. The enemy, who 
occupied several acres of commanding ground, 
strongly defended by blockhouses, well furnished 
witii ordnance, had so completely intrenched him- 
self, as to render unavailing every effort to carry 
his position. On the morning of the 5th, while 
the fate of the fortress yet hung in suspense, an 
American officer arrived at Meigs with a detach- 
ment of men from general Clay's division, bring- 
ing to the garrison the welcome intelligence, that 
that general, with his whole force, amounting to 
thirteen hundred men, was descending the river, 
and was at that moment but a few miles distant. 
Conceiving that the British army was now in his 
power, general Harrison dispatched orders to land 
one half of the advancing force on the side of the 
river opposite to the fort, and to co-operate with 
him in an attempt to force the British batteries, and 
to spike their cannon. Colonel Dudley, the officer 
charged with the execution of this movement, ad- 
vanced with so much vigour, that in a few minutes 
he was in possession of the batteries of the besieg- 
ers, and had taken some prisoners; but his troops, 
elevated unduly with their success, continued the 
pursuit till they were finally drawn into an am- 
bush; and their whole number, with very few ex- 
ceptions, was cither killed or taken. Colonel Dud- 
ley, who was among the slain, displayed the most 
heroic firmness, and killed one of the Indian war- 



74 THE TNITED STATES 

riors after he had received his mortal wound.— 
The officers and men of the 41st regiment, ^vho, 
led on by captain Muir, charged and routed the 
enemy, after they had seized the batteries, main- 
tained the long-established reputation of the corpse 
and the courage and activity displayed tliroughout 
the whole scene of action by the Indian chiefs and 
warriors, contributed essentially to the^ successful 
issue of the engagement. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was esti- 
mated at between one thousand and twelve hun- 
dred men, a principal part of whom were not volun- 
teers, but consisted of the Kentucky quota.* (17) 

Brilliant as had been the success of the British 
army on this occasion, it soon became evident that 
their position of the Miami must be speedily aban- 
doned. One half of the Canadian militia quitted 
their standard soon after the battle of the 5th; and 
the Indian warriors, following the custom of their 
country, after any battle of consequence, returned 
to their villages, with their wounded, their prison- 
ers, and their plunder, to revel in the spoils of war, 
and to gratify their savage thirst for blood by im- 
molating a portion of their captives. Before the 
ordnance could be withdrawn from the batteries, 
general Proctor found his twelve hundred Indian 
auxiliaries reduced to less than twenty, and his 
army so much weakened, that on the morning of 
the 9th he was obliged to raise the siege, and to 
retreat to his former station at Sandwich. 

• Dispatch from g-eneral Proctor to Sir George Prevost, dated 
Sandwich, Mav 14, 1813. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 75 

On the 20th of July, general Proctor, having 
given way to the clamour of his Indian allies, 
again advanced towards the head of Lake Erie; 
and on the 2d of August, made an attack on fort 
Stephenson, near the mouth of the river Sandusky, 
where tlie Americans had collected a small force, 
under major George Croghan. Finding the ene- 
my determined to defend the fort, general Proctor 
resolved to carry the place hy assault; the Indians, 
however, not relishing this species of warfare, 
withdrew themselves out of the reach of the ene- 
my's fire; and altliough his majesty's troops dis- 
played the greatest hravery, tliey were repulsed 
after a short hut animated struggle, with the loss 
of ahout one hundred men, and obliged once more 
to return to Sandwich. The failure of the British 
troops at fort Stephenson, and the indication of 
disaffection exhibited hy tlic Indians on that occa- 
sion, had encouraged an attempt on the part of the 
Americans to detach from the British army their 
Tjative allies; and with tliis view, a deputation of 
cliiefs in the interest of tlie enemy were dispatclied 
to hold a talk with their brethren; hut the contempt 
with which their proposal was received, and tlie 
determination expressed by the Indians in the Bri- 
tish interest, to adiicrc to the cause of their great 
father in England, extinguished these hopes, and 
put an end to the negotiation.* 

In tlie autumn of the present year, the tide of 
victory set in with a strong current in favour of 

• Dispatch from Sir Ceorg-e Prevost to Earl Bathurst, dated 
St. David's, Aug-iist 25, 1813, 



76 THE UNITED STATES 

the American arms. Whatever might be the nu- 
merical superiority of the Americans on land, it j 
seemed reasonable to expect that on another ele- \ 
ment Great Britain would always retain the ascen- 
dency, and that the ample resources of her naval 
power would enable her at all times to contend suc- 
cessfully with the enemy on the frontier lakes of 
Canada. The importance of this preponderance 
had become so manifest to the governor-general, 
that he had made repeated applications for rein- 
forcements, but it was not till the month of Octo- 
ber, that shipping suitable for this service arrived 
at Montreal. In the meantime, the British, or ra- 
ther the Canadian fleet, commanded by captain 
Barclay, and the American fleet, under the com- 
mand of captain Perry, met near the head of Lake 
Erie.^ In the morning of the 10th of September, 
the American squadron, while lying at anchor in 
Ptit-in-Bay, discovered the British fleet, and im- 
mediately got under way to give them battle. At 
ten o'clock in the forenoon, both fleets formed in 
line, and cleared for action. The lightness of the 

* According to the American accounts, the British fleet con- 
sisted of the brig- Detroit, of twenty g-uns; tlie Queen Charlotte, 
of eig-hteen; tlie Lady Prevost, of fourteen; the Hornet, of ten; 
and one sloop and a schooner, of three g-uns each. On the same 
authority it is stated, that the American fleet consisted of the 
Lawrence and the Niagara, of twenty guns each; and several 
smaller vessels, carrying an average of two guns each. Captain 
Barclay, without entering into the detail, represents the Ameri- 
can squadron as greatly superior in strength to his own, and 
says, that there were not more than fifty British seamen on board 
his vessels. 



AND GREAT BRITAIiV. 77 

wind occasioned them to approach slowly, and pro- 
longed the awful interval of suspense till mid-day. 
On the approach of captain Perry's sliip, the La .7- 
rence, a heavy fire was opened upon lier from the 
Detroit, which, from the shortness of her guns, she 
was at first unahle to return. The American cap- 
tain, without waiting for his lighter vessels, kept 
steadily on his course, and approaclied so near that 
it seemed to he his intention to hoard. For some 
time the hattle was decidedly in favour of the Bri- 
tish. Their shot pierced the side of the Lawrence in 
all directions, and lier decks were strewed with the 
dead, while the wounded, in considerable numbers, 
were carried below. Perceiving the hazard of his 
situation, the American commodore advanced still 
further, and ordered tlie other vessels to follow, for 
the purpose of closing with the British fleet. For 
two hours the contest was continued with unabated 
vigour, and captain Perry at length, finding the 
Lawrence incapable of further service, determined 
to transfer his flag to the Niagara, wliich was at 
tliat moment warmly engaged. Soon after the 
commodore's flag began to wave on the Niagara, 
the Lawrence being rendered totally incapable of 
further defence, struck her flag. No sooner had 
captain Perry taken his station on board the Niag- 
ara, than a signal was made for close action; and 
passing ahead of the British ships, in order to 
break their line, he gave them a raking fire with 
his starboard guns, and laid his ship alongside of 
the Detroit. The smaller American vessels having, 
in the meantime, advanced witliin grape and can- 
G 



rS THE UNITED STATES 

nister shot distance, and kept up a well-directed 
fire, the Queen Charlotte struck, and all the other 
British vessels were obliged to submit to tlie same 
fate. 

The engagement, whicli was gallantly contested, 
lasted three hours, and the victory on the part of 
the enemy was decisive. The loss on both sides was 
severe; and of tlie crew of the Lawrence, scarcely 
any individual, except the captain, escaped the 
shower of shot with wliich she was for upwards of 
two hours assailed. The return made by captain 
Perry, of the killed and wounded on board his fleet, 
amounted to one hundred and twenty-three; the 
British loss, as stated by captain Barclay, was for- 
ty-one killed, and ninety-four v ounded, among the 
former of whom was captain Finnis, of the Queen 
Charlotte, and his first lieutenant; and among the 
latter, captain Barclay himself. Tbis gallant vet- 
eran — veteran in service, though not in years, had 
already lost an arm while fighting the battles of 
his country. During the present engagement he 
was twice carried below to receive dressings for his 
wounds, one of which deprived him of his other 
hand. While under the hands of the surgeon the 
second time, an officer came down, and told him 
that they must strike, as tlie ships were cut to 
pieces, and the men could no longer be kept to their 
guns; but captain Barclay, unwilling to listen to 
counsel to which his ears were so little accustomed, 
demanded to be conveyed on deck, and after taking 
a survey of his fleet, and finding that all hopes of 
success had vanished, consented, with extreme re- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 79 

luctance, to strike to the enemy. The American 
commodore, no way inferior to his rival in valour, 
fought with a degree of gallantry tliat acquired for 
him the admiration and gratitude of his country; 
and consummated his bravery by so much kindness 
and humanity towards his prisoners, tbat captain 
Barclay, in the generous frankness of his soul, de- 
clared that the conduct of Perry, towards the cap- 
tive officers and men, wassufticient, of itself, to im- 
mortalize him. Tliis victory, wliich, it nnist be 
confessed, was of Iiigli importance to the American 
cause, was extolled throughout the Uuited States in 
language the most hyperbolical; and tljeir public 
writers, under the influence of a glowing imagina- 
tion, did not hesitate to remark tliat, <<the peal of 
war, which has once sounded on Erie, will, proba- 
bly, never again be hoard on that lake. The last 
roar of cannonry, that died along her sliorcs, was 
the expiring note of British domination. These 
vast internal seas will, perhaps, never again be the 
separating space between contending nations; but 
will be embosomed within a mighty empire; and 
this victory, wliich decided their fate, will stand 
nnrivalled and alone, deriving lustre and perpetuity 
from its singleness." (18) 

The capture of the British squadron on Lake 
Erie was the precursor, and in some degree, the 
cause of tlie relinquishment of the Michigan territo- 
ry, and the abandonment of all the posts in Upper 
Canada, beyond tlie Great River. Early in Sep- 
tember, general Harrison began to concentrate his 
force near the mouth of t!ie Miami, and once more 



80 THE UNITED STATES 

to prepare for a descent ou Canada. On the 17tli 
of that month, governor Shelby, with a reinforce- 
ment of four thousand vohmteers, arrived at the 
American liead-quarters; and on the 20th, general 
M^Arthur's brigade joined the main army. Col- 
onel Johnson's regiment of cavalry remained at fort 
Meigs, but had orders to approach Detroit by land, 
and to advance pari passu with the commander-in- 
chief, who was to move in boats to Maiden. Com- 
modore Perry was actively engaged in transport- 
ing the troops and baggage to their destination; and 
on the 27th, general Harrison's army debarked three 
miles from Maiden. On advancing to that j)lace, 
instead of the regimentals of the British, and the 
war hoop of the Indians, a group of well-dressed 
females presented themselves, and on behalf of 
themselves and the inhabitants, implored mercy and 
protection. It was now discovered that Maiden 
had been abandoned by general Proctor, who had 
determined to fall hack for the purpose of taking a 
station on the river Tliames. Sandwich and De- 
troit, thus abandoned to their fate, fell successively 
into the hands of the invaders; but before general 
Proctor quitted these places, he had taken the pre- 
caution to dismantle the ports, and to destroy the 
public buildings and stores of every description. 

On the 2d of October general Harrison had com- 
pleted his arrangements for advancing in pursuit 
01 the retreating British troops, and on the morn- 
ing of the 5th, the hostile armies came in contact 
at the Moravian village, situated on the right bank 
of the Thames, about forty miles from its entrance 



AWD GREAT BRITAIN. 81 

into Lake Clair. The British force, which was ad- 
vantageously drawn up in line of battle, on the 
hanks of the river, was estimated at five hundred 
men, supported by ahout twelve hundred Indians. 
(19) The numerical strength of the American ar- 
my was nearly double this amount, including one 
thousand irregular cavalry. The riglit division of 
the American army, consisting principally of horse, 
advanced to the charge with great impetuosity, and 
in an instant the British lines were broken, and 
tlie enemy formed in their rear. Tliis sudden and 
unexpected manoeuvre was decisive of the fate of the 
day. On the left of the enemy's position tlie con- 
test was more serious, but not less successful. Co- 
lonel Johnson, who commanded the Americans on 
that flank, encountered a steady resistanee on the 
part of the Indians, who, by their gallant conduct, 
rescued themselves from the disgrace at fort Ste- 
phenson. Tecumseh, one of the most distinguished 
of their chiefs, and the brother of the prophet, was 
personally opposed to colonel Johnson, and was ad- 
vancing upon him with an uplifted tomahawk, when 
the colonel, observing his approach, drew a pistol 
from his holster, and laid his brave adversary dead 
at his feeW^ At the moment of the fall of Tecum - 

* This celebrated aboriginal warrior fell in the forty-fburlh 
year of his age. He was of the Shawannoe tribe. In stature, he 
was above the middle size; extremely active; and capable of sus- 
tainuig fatigue in a very extraordinary degree. His carriage was 
erect and lofty — his motions quick — his eye penetrating— his 
visage stern, with an air of hmiteiir in, his countenance, arising 
from an elevated pride of soul. His rule of war was neither to 

give nor to accept quarter. He had been in almost every battle 
G 2 



82 THE UNITED STATES 

sell, the Indians, who till now had maintained their 
ground witli great bravery, gave way,' and general 
Proctor, perceiving that all was lost, ordered his 
troops to disperse, and sought his own safety in 
flight. Among the trophies taken by the Ameri- 
cans in the battle of the Thames, were six brass 
iield-pieces, which had been surrendered b}^ general 
Hull, and on two of which were inscribed, ^'Surren- 
dered by Burgoyne at Saratoga." (19) 

The American army, having effected the object 
of their expedition, returned to Detroit, but before 
they departed they destroyed Moravian village, 
attempting to palliate this enormity on the ground, 
that the Indian inhabitants had been among the 
foremost in massacreing the Americans at the river 
Raisin; and on the further plea, that the town, if 
spared, would have afforded a convenient shelter 
for their British allies during the winter. "While 
general Harrison was advancing to the Thames, 
the Ottawas, and the other Indian tribes, proposed 
to general M< Arthur to suspend hostilities, and to 
agree to "take hold of the same tomahawk with 
the Americans, and to strike all the enemies of the 
United States, whether British or Indian." These 

with the Americans, since the breaking out of the war; had re- 
ceived several wounds, and always sought the hottest of the fire. 
His ruling passion was glory — wealth was beneath his ambition — 
and although his planderings and subsidies must have amounted 
to a large sum, he died poor. The Americans had a kind of fe- 
rocious pleasure (19) in contemplating the contour of his fea- 
tvires, which was majestic even in death; but some of the Ken- 
tuckians disgraced themselves by committing indignities on his 
dead body. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 83 

proposals were of course agreed to, and the Indians 
were left at liberty, according to the American ac- 
counts, either to take up arms in behalf of the 
United States, or to remaifi neutral. 

General Proctor, after his retreat from Mora- 
vian village, repaired to Ancaster, on the Grand 
River, where he collected tlie shattered remains of 
his army, amounting to about two hundred men, 
and from thence marched to Burlington Heights, 
the head-quarters of general Vincent. 



(SHA^^B® WE^ 



Signal as the success of the enemy had been on 
the Detroit frontier, all his efforts to establish him- 
self in Lower Canada proved unavailing, and serv- 
ed only to involve him in loss and disaster. On 
the 31st of July, the Ontario fleet, under commo- 
dore Chauncey, consisting at that period of twelve 
sail, and carrying a military force, under lieuten- 
ant-colonel Scott, made its appearance off York; 
but, after throwing open the public jail, and des- 
troying the store-houses of some of the private in- 
habitants, they again evacuated the town, and took 
to their vessels. The attention of the enemy was 
soon drawn from these predatory excursions to the 
defence of their own settlements; and a number of 
naval officers and seamen were dispatched from 
Quebec, on board a flotilla of gun-boats, for the pur« 
pose of co-operating with a small, but chosen body 
of troops, under lieutenant-colonel Murray, in vari- 
ous demonstrations on Lake Champlain. On the 
£9th of July, the objects of this service were fully 
accomplished by the total destruction of all the 
enemy's arsenals, blockhouses, and stores of every 
description, at Plattsburgh, Swanton, and Cham- 
plaintown; and tlie conflagration of tlie extensive 
barracks at Saranac, capable of containing four 
thousand troops. This important service was per- 



86 THE UNITED STATES 

formed with a degree of promptitude and regu- 
larity highly hoiiourahle to the officers directing 
the expedition, and without the loss of a single 
man. (20) 

The success of the Americans, on tlie shores and 
on the waters of Lake Erie, had created that ex- 
cess of exultation which often finds in defeat and 
disappointment its appropriate punishment. Upper 
Canada, it was said, had fallen, and the same fate 
awaited the other parts of the dominions of his 
Britannic majesty in North America. The pre- 
parations, by which these magnificent projects were 
to be realized, appeared not altogether inadequate 
to their fulfilment; and it w^as pnblicly announced, 
that the two armies under generals Wilkinson and 
Hampton, consisting of from eight to ten thousand 
men each, would take up their winter quarters at 
Montreal. These troops, however, were formida- 
ble only in numbers, and possessed no qualities 
wliich could enable them to stand the shock of ar- 
mies under British discipline. 

The attack on Lower Canada was to be made 
by a combined operation of the armies of the north 
and of the centre; and while the former, under 
general Hampton, marched on Montreal from Lake 
Champlain, taking the route of the Chateaugay; 
the latter, under general Wilkinson, was directed 
to sail down the St. Lawrence for the same desti- 
nation. On the morning of the 21st of October, 
general Hampton crossed the line of separation 
between the British dominions and the United 
States, and commenced Ins movements along the 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 87 

banks of the river. After some days spent in com- 
pleting his arrangements and bringing up liis stores 
and artillery, he advanced on the 25th in front of 
the British position, which he found supported by 
a wood of some miles in extent, formed into an 
entire abatis, and filled by a succession of breast- 
works, well supplied with ordnance.^ Early in 
the forenoon of the 26th, the ximerican light troops 
and cavalry were discovered advancing on both 
banks of the Chateaugay. Lieutenant-colonel De 
Salaberry, who had the command of the advanced 
picquets of the Bi'itish army, composed of the light 
infantry company of the Canadian fencibles, and 
two companies of voltigcurs, stationed on the north 
side of the river, made so excellent a disposition 
of his little band, as to check the advance of the 
enemy's principal column, led by general Hampton 
in person, and accompanied by brigadier-general 
Izard,* while the American light brigade, under 
colonel M*Carty, was in like manner arrested in 
its progress on the south side of the river, by the 
spirited advance of the riglit flank company of the 
third battalion of the embodied militia, under cap- 
tain Daly, supported by captain Bruyer's company 
of Cliatcaugay chasseurs. In the course of the 
day the enemy rallied repeatedly, and returned to 
the attack: but all their efforts proved unavailing; 
and on the approach of evening they were obliged 
finally to retire, being foiled on all points by a 
handful of men, who, by their determined bravery, 

* Despatch from general Hampton to the Secretary at War, 
dated Four Corners, November 1, 1813. 



88 THE UNITED STATES 

maintained their position in the face of an enemy 
twenty times their number. 

The governor-general, having fortunately ar- 
rived on the scene of action shortly after the ap- 
pearance of the enemy, witnessed the gallant can- 
duct of the troops on this glorious occasion, and 
had the satisfaction to award, on the spot, that 
j)raise which had become so justly their due. From 
the report of prisoners taken from the enemy in 
the affair of Chateaugay, it appeared that the 
American force consisted of seven thousand infan- 
try > and two hundred cavalry, with ten field pieces; 
while the British advanced force, actually engaged, 
did not exceed three hundred!^ The entire loss 
of both armies, in killed, wounded, and missing, 
according to the official dispatches transmitted to 
their governments by the hostile generals, was esti- 
mated at seventy-five men, of which the British 
lost only twenty- five; and the Americans not more 
than double that number. After this memorable 
repulse, the American commander called a council 
of war, at which it was determined, with more 
calculating prudence than military enterprize, that 
under existing circumstances, it was not prudent 
to renew the attack; but that on the contrary, the 
army should ^^immediately return, by orderly 
marches, to such a position as would secure their 
communication with the United States, either to 
retire into winter quarters, or to be ready to strike 
below." (21) 

* Despatch from Sir George Prevost to Earl Bathurst^ dated 
Montreal, October 30, 1813. 



AND GREAT BRITAIX. 89 

The American troops, engaged in the expedition 
inuler general Wilkinson, were not more fortunate 
in the entej'prize npon whicli they liad now enter- 
ed than their compatriots of the northern army. 
Early in the month of Octoher, general AVilkinson, 
at the head of an army of ten thousand men, em- 
barked at Fort George, on board the Ontario 
flotilla, consisting of upwards of three hundred 
vessels, and Iiaving entered the St. Lawrence, on 
the 2d of November, arrived on the 6th within a 
few miles of the port of Prescot. The powder and 
stores were here landed on the Canadian side of 
the river, to be transported by land, under cover 
of the niglit, beyond the British batteries; and all 
the troops were debarked to march at the same 
hour to a bay two n»ilcs below Prescot. The vigi- 
lance of the Britlsii troops, to which the enemy 
bears repeated testimony, was not to be surprised; 
and in this attempt to pass the fortress of Prescot, 
the Ameiican armada was doomed to sustain a 
heavy and destructive cannonade;=^ while tiie army 
on shore, under tlic command of brigadier-general 
Boyd, was briskly assailed by the garrison with 
shot and shells. Tlie advance of the enemy, sub- 
sequent to the passage of Prescot, was retarded by 
the menacing i)ositian of the British army, whidi 
hung uj)on his reai*, and by the difficulties of the 
navigation of the St. Lawrence, which expcsctl his 
flotilla to continually increasing dangers. Having 
anticipated the probability of the American gov- 

* Despatches from Sir Gcorg-e Prevost. 

H 



90 THE UNITED STATES 

ernmcnt sending its wliole force from Lake Ontario 
towards Montreal, the British governor-general 
had ordered a corps of observation, consisting of 
the remains of the 49th regiment, the second bat- 
talion of the 89th, and three companies of volti- 
geurs, with a division of gun-boats, the whole un- 
der the command of lieutenant-colonel Morrison, 
of the 89th regiment, to advance from Kingston, 
and to follow the movements of general Wilkinson's 
army. On the 11th, this corps of observation was 
attacked at Williamsberg by a part of the Ameri- 
can force, under general Boyd, consisting of two 
brigades of infantry, and a regiment of cavalry. 
About half past two the action became general, 
when the enemy endeavoured, by moving forward 
a brigade from the riglit, to turn the British left, 
but was repulsed by the 89th forming in potence 
with the 49th, and both corps moving forward, 
occasionally firing by platoons. Finding himself 
unsuccessful on the left, the next efforts of the ene- 
my were directed against the right, but he was re- 
ceived in so gallant a manner by the companies of 
the 89tlj, under captain Barnes, and by a well di- 
rected fire from the ai'tiliery, tliat he quickly re- 
treated, leaving one of liis guns in the hands of 
the British. Colonel Morrison, in his turn, now 
became the assailant, and the enemy concentrated 
his force to prevent his advance; but such was tlie 
steady countenance, and well directed fire of the 
troops, and the artillery, that about half past four, 
the Americans gave way on all sides, and aban- 
doned their strong position. By a jr.dicious move- 



AND GIISAT BRITAIN. 91 

mcnt made at this moment by lieutenant-colonel 
Peai-son, their U^Ut infantry, which had been left 
to cover their retreat, was dislodged, and the Bri- 
tish detaciiment for the night occupied the ground 
from which the enemy had ignobly suffered them- 
selves to be driven. Colonel Morrison, in l»is re- 
port of the battle of Williamsberg, very justly re- 
marks, that every man did Ins duty; and that no 
stronger evidence can be given of their merits than 
that which is found in the fact, that the army of the 
victors did not exceed eight hundred men; while 
that of the vanquished amounted to from three to 
four thousand.^ The loss of the Americans in kill- 
ed and wounded, amounted to three hundred and 
thirty-nine,f including upwards of one hundred 
prisoners. On the side of the British, the loss, in 
relation to the number engaged, was iieavy, and 
amounted to one hundred and eighty, including 
twelve missing.:): Sir George Prevost, in his des- 
patches relating to the repeated attempts of the 
Americans to invade his majesty's Canadian domin- 
ions, dwells with exultation on the loyalty and ac- 
tive zeal displayed by all classes of tiie inhabitants; 
and general ^YiIkinson bears ample testimony to 
the same important fact, by asserting, that the hos- 

* General Wilkinson, in his despatch to the Secretary at War, 
flated French Mills, November 16, 1813, states, rather loosely, 
that the American force eiigag-ed, did not exceed one thousand 
eight hundred men; while the strength of the British is estimat- 
ed at one thousand five hundred, or one thousand six hundred, 
exclusive of the militia. 

f General Wilkinson's despatches. t Colonel ^Morrison's 

official report. 



9^ THE UNITED STATES 

tiiity of the male inhabitants of the country was ac^ 
tive and universal. (22) 

The American army, depressed by their disas- 
ters, re-embarked the whole of their forces on the 
13th, and crossed the St. Lawrence to St. Regis 
and Salmon River, on their own shores, not leaving 
a man on the Canadian territory, except such as 
were prisoners. On the preceding day, general 
Wilkinson, who had been confined to his bed dur- 
ing the principal part of the voyage down the St. 
Lawrence, received a despatch from general Hamp- 
ton, in which that officer declined to join his troops 
to the army of the centre, on account of the limit- 
ed supply of provisions, intimating, however, that 
he should retire to Plattsburg, with the intention 
of opening a communication between the two armies 
lower down the river. This letter general Wilkin- 
son considered as a refusal on the part of general 
Hampton to co-operate,* and at a council of war, 
consisting of the principal officers of his army, it 
was determined, "that the attack on Montreal 
should be abandoned for the present season," and 
that the army should go into winter quarters. It 
would be an useless expenditure of time to enter 
into the controversy between these two generals; 
but it was strongly surmised in the United States, 
that the battles of Chateaugay and \^ illiamsb' rg 
had abated their military ardour, and that in reality 
ilicir dissensions might be traced to this cause. (22) 
The signal defeats, experienced by the American 
armies in Canada, having relieved both provinces 
from the pressure of the invaders, the attention of 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 93 

the Britisli army, under major-general Vincent, 
land lieutenant-general Drummond, was directed 
to t!ie Niagara frontier; and on the 10th ot* De- 
cember, colonel Murray was ordered to advance, 
for the purpose of checking a system of plunder 
organized by the enemy against the loyal inhabi- 
tants of that district. Notwithstanding the inclem- 
ency of the weather, the Britisli force arrived in 
the neighbourhood of fort George, in time to com- 
pel the enemy, under general M*CIure, to abandon 
the whole of the British side of the Niagara fron- 
tier; but not till that general had stained the char- 
acter of liis country, by the wanton conflagration 
of the town of Newark, which, under the pretence 
of securing the American frontier, but in violation 
of the laws of nations, he reduced to a heap of 
ashes. 

The enemy, no longer secure within his own do- 
minions, abandoned Lewistown on the advance of 
major-general Riall, leaving in the place a consid- 
erable supply of small arms and ammunition, with 
about two hundred barrels of flour. 

Early in the morning of the 19th of December, 
colonel Murray, at the head of a detachment of the 
lOOtli regiment, the grenadier company of the 
royals, and the flank companies of the 41st regi- 
ment, advanced to fort Niagara, where, having 
surprised the centries on the glacis of the fortress, 
the watch-word was obtained, and the place carried 
in a few minutes, with the trifling loss of six men 
killed, and five wounded. The loss of the garri- 
son was much more considerable. Sixty-five of their 
H 2 



^4 THE UNITED STATES 

number were killed, fourteen wounded, and three 
hundred and forty-foar made prisoners. =^ By this 
gallant achievement, twenty-seven pieces of cannon, 
three thousand stand of arms, a number of rifles, 
and the store-houses, well stocked with clothing', 
and camp equipage of every description, fell into 
the hands of the victors. Captain Leonard, of the 
artillery service, to whom the command of the gar- 
rison had been intrusted by general M*Clure, had, 
on the evening before the assault, retired to his 
country residence, at a distance of two miles, and 
a royal salute, announcing the surrender of the 
fortress, gave this officer the first intimation of the 
surrender of the garrison committed to his charge. 
On the same day that the fortress of Niagara 
was carried by colonel Murray, Lewistown sur- 
rendered witliout resistance to the forces under 
major-general Riall. During the night of the 30th, 
that general crossed the Niagara, for the purpose 
of attacking the enemy at Black Rock and Buffalo, 
at the head of a detachment, consisting of four 
companies of the king^s regiment, the light compa- 
ny of the 89th, two hundred and fifty of tlie 41st 
regiment, and the grenadiers of the 100th regi- 
ment; with a small body of militia volunteers, and 
a number of Indian warriors. At day-break on 
the following morning, the king's regiment, and 
light company of the 89th, moved forward; the 
grenadiers of the 41st and the 100th regiments being 
in reserve. On the approach of the British troops, 

* Colonel Murray's report to general Drummond, dated fort 
T^Iiagara, December 19;, 1819. 



ABTD GREAT BRITAIi'f. 95 

the enemy opened a very heavy fire of canncwi and 
musketry on the royal Scots, under lieutenant- 
colonel Gordon, who was directed to land above 
Black Rock, for tlie purpose of turning his posi- 
tion, but who, owing to the boats in which the 
troops were embarked having grounded, was not able 
to land in sufHcient time to accomplish that object. 
The king's and the 89th, having, in the mean time, 
gained the town, commenced a spirited attack up- 
on the Americans, under general Hall. The posi- 
tion, which was strong, was for some time sup- 
ported with much bravery; but such was the gal- 
lant and determined advance of the Britisli troops, 
that he was at lengtli di-iven from his batteries, 
and pursued to the town of Buffalo, about two miles 
distant. General Hall, finding his force now swell- 
ed to upwards of two thousand men, again attempt- 
ed to arrest the progress of the advancing columns; 
but finding all his efforts ineffectual, his troops fled 
in disorder, and betook themselves to the woods. 
Eight pieces of ordnance, and one hundred and 
thirty prisoners, fell into the hands of the British, 
and the enemy's loss in killed and wounded, was 
estimated at from three to four hundred. 

General Riall now proceeded to execute the ulte- 
rior objects of the expedition; and colonel Robin- 
son was detached to destroy a sloop and two 
schooners, part of the Ontario flotilla, wliich lay a 
little below the town. The town itself, the inhabi- 
tants having previously abandoned it, and the 
whole of the public stores, consisting of a consid- 
erable quantity of clothing, spirits, and flour, which 



96 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

the British army hail not the means of conveying 
away, were then set on fire, and totally consumed. 
A similar fate awaited Black Rock; and on the 
evenin.^ of the same day that village was consigned 
to the flames. 

These terrihle inflictions were not deemed suffi- 
cient to retaliate the destruction of the town of 
Newark; and in ohedience to the further instruc- 
tions of general Drummontl, Lieut, colonel Gordon, 
with a detachment of the 19th and 89th regiments, 
moved down the river to fort Niagara, and des- 
troyed the remaiiung cover of the enemy upon this 
frontier.* A dreadful scene of desolation now^ 
presented itself. All the towns and villages on the 
American side of the communicating river between 
lakes Erie and Ontario were destroyed, and the 
concluding scenes of the campaign, of the present 
year, assumed tltc character of a war of extermi- 
nation — a species of contest abhorrent to every 
civilized mind, and fit only for the savage auxilia- 
ries of the two exasperated belligerents. (23) 

* Report made by general Riall to general Drummond, dated 
near fort Erie, January 1, 1814. 



©MA^^Mm Wl% 



Amidst partial reverses, the campaign of the pre- 
sent year had proved glorious by land to Great 
Britain. On the ocean, the skill and bravery of the 
hostile nations were more equally balanced, but the 
ascendancy inclined, unquestionably, to that power 
who had so long reigned the unrivalled mistress of 
the waves. Her successes were, however, by no 
means unchequered, even on this element j and the 
first action on the ocean between British and Ameri- 
can vessels, in the year 1813, terminated decidedly 
in favour of the latter power. On the 24th of March, 
the American brig Hornet, captain Lawrence, and 
the English brig Peacock, captain William Peake, 
met at sea off Demarara, and at half past five o'clock 
in the afternoon they passed within range of each 
other's guns, and exchanged broadsides. Observing 
the British captain in the act of wearing, captain 
Lawrence bore up and received his starboard broad- 
side, after which he approached close on tlie star- 
board quarter, and in that position kept up such a 
heavy and well-diiected fire, that in less than fifteen 
minutes, the Peacock, being rendered unmanagea- 
ble, was obliged to strike her flag. With much diffi- 
culty, the Americans succeeded in bringing their 
prize to anchor; but before the prisoners could be 
removed, she went dowM, carrying with her thir- 



98 THE UNITED STATES 

teen of her own crew, and three of the Americait 
sailors. Captain Peake, and four of his crew were 
found dead on board the sinking vessel, and thirty- 
three others were wounded. Tii 3 loss of the Amer- 
icans was trifling in comparison; and in the return 
made by captain Lawrence to the Secretary of the 
Navy, it is stated, that the number of killed and 
wounded did not exceed five men, of whom one on- 
ly was killed. The Peacock is represented as one 
of the finest vessels of her class in the British na- 
vy; and in size, guns, and crew, the combatants 
were nearly equal. On the return of captain Law- 
rence to America, he was received with every pos- 
sible mauk of distinction; and as a testimony of the 
estimation in which his talents and bravery were 
held by his government, he was appointed to the 
command of the Chesapeake frigate, then lying in 
the port of Boston. 

The time now approached in which the British 
flag was to recover a large share of its accustomed 
honours from that foe with whom its glories had 
suffered a temporary eclipse. Ever since the month 
of February, captain Broke, of the Shannon, had 
been cruising in the bay of Boston, in company with 
the Tenedos, in hopes that the Chesapeake would 
come out of the harbour; but tlie enemy not choos- 
ing to encounter two British frigates, captain 
Broke directed the Tenedos to cruise at a distance 
from the coast, and not to rejoin him till after the 
the expiration of a month. In order that captain 
Lawrence might be informed of the separation of 
the vessels, and be induced, in consequence, to 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 99 

put to sea, the Shannon stood close into Boston 
light-house, and hoisted the British colours. The 
challenge, conveyed by this posture of defence, cap- 
tain Lawrence was not slow to accept; and at mid- 
day, on the 1st of June, the Chesapeake weighed 
anchor, and stood out of tlie harbour, to decide, as 
it were, by single combat, the contest between the 
two nations in maritime prowess. 

About twenty-five minutes after five o'clock, tlie 
two frigates were within musket shot of each other; 
and it is scarcely possible to conceive a more in- 
teresting and awful moment. The engagement, 
wliich was about to commence, had few features in 
common witli the usual routine of sea fights; there 
was, on the contrary, something chivalrous in the 
situation of tlie combatants; each commander, as 
well as the respective crews, had offered tiiemselves 
as tlic ciiampior.s of their country's glory and hon- 
our; and by tiiis feeling, it may be supposed, tliat 
the Americans were morc-piU'ticulariy influenced, 
as the engagement was about to coiTJmence within 
sight of their own shores, which were lined by the 
inhabitants, w'no could observe, witii ease, all the 
vicissitudes of a combat so interesting. Captain 
Bi'oke and his crew, on their j)art, iuust Ijave ex- 
perie;iced feelings little less stimulating to heroic 
enterprise; they had sought an oj)portunity of prov- 
ing to the world, that the sun of England's naval 
glory was not yet set. They had not merely to sus- 
tain, they had, in some measure, to retric\e and 
win back the glory and honour of tijcie country. 
They had to pi'ove themselves worthy of that coun- 



100 THE UNITED STATES 

try which had given birth to Nelson; and they di^ 
prove themselves worthy of this high distinction. 
The Chesapeake frigate, on her advance, was ma- 
noeuvred with so much skill as to call for the admi- 
ration of the British captain; and three American 
ensigiis waved from her masts, on one of which was 
inscribed, <*Free Trade and Sailors' Rights.'* At 
half past five, the enemy placed himself on the vStar- 
board side of the Shannon, and the battle began. 
After the exchange of two or tliree broadsides, the 
enemy's frigate fill on board the Shannon, and they 
became locked in each other's ri2:ging. Captain 
Broke, observing that the enemy were flinching 
from their guns, determined to bi-ing the battle to 
an immediate and gloiious issue, and gave orders 
to prepare for boar.Ung. Placing himself at the 
head of his gallant bands, a]>pointed to that ser- 
vice, they instantly rushed upon tlie enemy's decks, 
impelling every thing before tljem with irresistible 
fury. The enemy made a desperate, but disorder- 
ly resistance; and the firing was continued at all the 
gangways, and between the tops; but in two min- 
utes they were driven, sword in hand, fiom evei-y 
post. Tlie American flag was hauled down, and the 
proud old British union floated tiiumphantly over 
it. In another minute tlie enemy ceased firing from 
below, and called for quorter; and the wliole ser- 
vice >\as achieved in fifteen minutes from the com- 
mencement of the action. 

No tori?:S can adequately ex})ress the merits of 
the vaUant olTuers and crew of the S!;r.!>v.nn; the 
cahn courage they displayed during the cannonade, 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 101 

and the tremendous precision of their fire, could on- 
ly be equalled by the ardour with which they rush- 
ed to the assault. Nor was the courage of the 
Americans much less conspicuous; their brave cap- 
tain, who received a musket ball through his body, 
in the heat of the action, exclaimed, as lie was car- 
ried below, "Don't give up the ship;" and his prin- 
cipal solace, while suffering the most excruciating 
pain from his wounds, was derived from tlie hope 
that his colours should never be struck. But at the 
moment when these orders were sent up by the sur- 
geon, every officer on the upper deck was either 
killed or wounded, and the struggle had ceased. In 
the very moment of victory. Captain Broke was se- 
verely wounded in his head by a sabre, while exert- 
ing himself to save two Americans from the fury of 
liis men. Of his gallant seamen and marines, he 
had twenty "three slain, and fifty-six wounded; while 
the loss of the enemy amounted to forty-seven kill- 
ed, and ninety-three wounded. From a comparative 
view of the strength of the two frigates, it appears 
that the Shannon mounted fifty-three guns, while 
the Chesapeake had only forty nine; but if the su- 
periority in guns was on the side of the English, 
the Americans enjoyed a still higher advantage in 
her number of men; and the Chesapeake had to op- 
pose her full compliment of four hundred and forty 
seamen against the three hundred and thirty with 
which the Shannon entered the action. 

The wounds of captain Lawrence proved mortal 
four days after the battle; when his body was 
shrouded in the colours of his ship, and conveyed 



102 THE UNITED STATES 

to Halifax for interment. His funeral obsequies; 
were celebrated with appropriate ceremonials. His 
pall was supported by the oldest captains in the 
British service tlien at Halifax, and the naval offi- 
cers crowded to yield the last honors to a man 
whom they considered now no longer in the light 
of a foe, but as an honour to his profession. There 
is a generous sympathy in the brave that knows 
no distinction of clime or nation. They honour in 
each other that of which they feel proud in them- 
selves. The group, tliat congregated round the 
grave of Capt. Lawrence, presented a scene worthy 
of the heroic days of chivalry. It was a complete 
triumph of the nobler feelings over the savage pas- 
sions of war. The conflict of arms is ferocious; 
and triumph frequently does but engender more 
deadly hostilities; but the contest of magnanimity 
calls forth the nobler feelings of the soul, and the 
contest is over the affections. 

The capture of the Chesapeake, under such ani- 
mating and glorious circumstances, could not fail, 
in some degree, to re-establish in tlie minds even 
of the desponding their confidence in British na- 
val valour and skill; and an engagement which 
took place in the month of August, though not of 
so brilliant a nature, nor brought to so speedy an 
issue, contributed to the same effect. On the morn- 
ing of the 14th of x'^ugust, captain Maples, of his 
majesty's sloop Pelican, while cruising in St. 
George's Channel, for the protection of the trade, 
observed an American vessel in full sail, which 
slackened on her approach, and prepared for ac- 



I AND GREAT BRITAIN. 103 

"5 lion. As soon as the Pelican came alongside oi' 
her antagonist, the seamen gave three cheers, and 
the action commenced. For forty-three minutes 
the engagement was kept up with great spirit on 
both sides; and though during this time the Pelican 
evidently had the advantage, it was by no means 
of a decisive nature. Captain Maples, finding liis 
crew anxious to come to close quarters, laid the 
Pelican alongside of his adversary, and gave or- 
ders to board her; but when the crew were in tlie 
act of executing the commands of tlieir captain, 
the American struck her colours. The vessel prov- 
ed to be tlie Argus sloop of war, captain Allen, of 
twenty guns, and a complement of oi^.c hundred 
and twenty -seven men. Her commander fought 
his ship nobly, and was wounded early in the ac- 
tion so severely, that he w-as obliged to suffer am- 
putation of his left thigh, and died the djiy after 
the battle. In point of force, the two sloops were 
nearly equal, and perhaps the circumstance which 
most strongly indicated the relative skill with 
which the battle was fought, was the loss on each 
side: on board the Pelican there were only two 
men killed, and six wounded; while on board the 
Argus, t!ic killed and wounded amounted to about 
forty. ^ 

* Despatch from Capt. Maples to vice-admiral Thornborough. 
In a letter from John Hawker, esq. ma.ny years American vice- 
consul in England, dated from PI3 mouth, August 19, 1813, and 
addressed to general Allen, the father of the captain, it is stated, 
that the loss on board the Argus, amounted only to six killed, 
and twelve wounded. 



104 THE UNITED STATES 

But the absolute superiority of the British by 
sea was not yet placed on so firm a footing as not 
to be liable, in their engagements witli the Ameri- 
cans, to vicissitudes; and those who, from the re- 
sult of the action between the Shannon and the 
Chesapeake, looked for victory as a matter of 
course, wliencver the vessels were of equal force, 
were doomed to be disappointed. On the 5th of 
September, the American brig Enterprize, lieuten- 
ant Burrows, and his Britannic majesty's brig 
Boxer, caplain BIythe, met at the entrance of Ports- 
mouth bay, off the coast of the United States. — 
The English captain, when he observed the Ameri- 
can vessel standing towards him, fired a shot as a 
challenge, and hoisted three British ensigns, which 
he ordered to be nailed to the mast. About two 
o'clock, the American captain, having obtained the 
weather-gage, hoisted, in his turn, three ensigns, 
and fired a shot at the Boxer; this she did not 
deign to return till she came within half pistol shot, 
when her crew gave three cheers, and commenced 
the action by firing her starboard broadside. The 
action now became most obstinate; and at twenty 
minutes past three, the American captain received 
a ball in his body, and fell. He refused to be 
carried below, but raising his head, requested, 
even in the agonies of death, that his flag might 
never be struck. Nor was his adversary less dis- 
tinguished for his heroic bravery. About ten min- 
utes after the American commandant received his 
mortal wound, lieutenant M'Call, on wiiom the 
command of the vessel devolved, ordered his ship 



A\D GP.CAT BRITAIN. 105 

to be laid on board the Boxer, for the purpose of 
raking Iier with a starboard bi'oadside. Ca»^)taiii 
Blythe had now fallen^ and the situation of the ves- 
sels was such, that the Enterprize could command 
any situation which it might be deemed advisable 
to take; while the Boxer couid neither be manoeu- 
vred with skill, nor fought with advantage. The 
raking fire to wliich she was exposed, continued to 
be poured into her till forty-five minutes past three, 
ulien her crew, finding further resistance unavail- 
ing, called for quarter; as their colours, being nail- 
ed to the mast, could not be hauled down. The 
loss of the Boxer was much more considerable than 
that of the American brig; and the hull, sails, and 
rigging of the former were nearly cut to pieces; 
while the latter, though injured in her spars and 
rigging, was left in a condition to have commenc- 
ed another action of the same kind immediately.— 
Soon after the arrival of the Enterprize and Boxer 
at Portland, the bodies of the two comiiianding 
officers, captain Blythc, and lieutenant Burrows, 
were brought on shore in barges, rowed at minute 
strokes by the masters of ships, accompanied by 
most of the boats and barges in the harbour, while 
minute guns were fired from the two vessels. A 
grand procession was then formed on shore, and 
the interment took place with all the honours that 
the civil and military authorities of the place, and 
the great body of people, could bestow. 
1 2 



©MAi»^im Taia. 



In the early part of the year 1813, the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware bays were declared by the 
British government to be in a state of blockade, 
and a squadron, under the command of admiral 
Warren, was stationed off the American coast, to 
seal up these great inlets of the United States. In 
the month of May, rear-admiral Cockburn, with a 
light squadron under his command, was sent up 
the Chesapeake, to carry on a coasting warfare, 
and to render the government and the inhabitants 
of America sensible of the danger of rousing the 
indignation of the British nation. The villages of 
Frenchtown, Havre-de-grace, Georgetown, and 
Fredericktown, situated near the head of the Ches- 
apeake, were seized upon and destroyed, and con- 
siderable injury was done to the enemy by these 
operations^ but no vital point was reached, nor 
were any of the great objects of the war materially 
promoted. This desultory and piratical species of 
warfare, though always a favourite topic of British 
declamation, seldom leads to any important result. 
Its successes are superficial and transient; and 
though the suffering and alarm it inflicts may in 
some measure dispose the minds of the people of a 
district to peace, even this effect must be greatly 
counteracted by the hatred and irritation which it 
is always sure to excite. 



108 THE UNITED STATES 

The Indian tribes in tlie Mississippi territory 
availed themselves of the riipture between Great 
Britain and America to indulge once more their 
strong j)ropensity for war, and endeavour to re- 
gain those territories which the events of former 
contests had wrested from them. Deaf to the warn- 
ing voice of their most experienced chiefs, the 
Creek Indians procured supplies of arms and am- 
munition from the Spaniards in West Florida, and 
declared war against the United States. The first 
operations of the war took place near the Georgia 
frontier, and on the 30th of August fort Mims Wiis 
surprised by a large body of the savages, and the 
garrison, with about two hundred and sixty of the 
inhabitants, fell a sacrifice to their merciless hos- 
tility. Of the whole number of persons in the 
place, not more than thirty* escaped the scalping 
knife, the flames, and the tomahawk. 

To revenge this massacre, and to strike terror 
into the savages, a brigade of the Georgia militia 
was detached, under the command of brigadier- 
general Floyd; and the militia and volunteers of 
Tennessee, under the command of general Jackson, 
were employed in the same service. In the month 
of November, battles were fought at Tallushatches, 
Talledega, Hillibeetowns, and Autossee, in all of 
which, according to the accounts of their enemies, 
the Indians were defeated; numbers of their chiefs 
and warriors were killed; and their villages con- 
signed to the flames. In all these engagements 

* Letter from judge Toulmin, dated September 7, 1813. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 109 

they fought with a fury peculiar to savages, and 
met and inflicted death without giving or receiving 
quarter.'^ 

The sanguinary details of this war of extermi- 
nation, present little hut a repitition of successes 
on the part of the Americans, and of misery and 
desolation in the devoted country of their adversa- 
ries. A contest so unequal could not he of long 
duration, and tlie hattle of Tallapoosa, fought on 
the 2rth of March, 1814, hrought the war to a 
close, by the destruction of almost all the warri(»rs 
of the nation against which it was waged. On the 
morning of tliis decisive engagement, general Jack- 
son reached the crescent of the Tallapoosa, on the 
southern extremity of New Yonka, where the In- 
dians had formed a kind of fortress, covering about 
a hundred acres of ground, and rendered, as they 
conceived, impregnable, by the benedictions of their 
prophets, and the skill of their warriors. The 
breast-work, of this fortified peninsula, was from 
five to eight feet in height; and the congregated 
warriors of Oakfuska, Oakehagu, New Yonka, 
Hillabeea, the Fish Ponds, and Eufatua, formed 
its garrison. Having despatched general Coffee to 
place himself in the rear of the enemy by securing 
the opposite banks of the river, the commander of 
the American army determined to take possession 
of the breast-work by storm. The regular troops, 
led on by colonel Williams and major ^lontgomery, 
were soon in possession of the advanced part of the 

* See the official reports of the American generals. 



110 THE UNITED STATES 

works, when an obstinate contest, through the port 
holes, musket to musket, took place, and in which 
many of the Indian bullets became transfixed upon 
the bayonets of their adversaries. At length the 
assailants succeeded in scaling the works, and the 
event was now no longer doubtful. The Indians, 
although they fought to the last moment of their 
existence, and displayed that kind of bravery which 
desperation inspires, were entirely routed and cut 
to pieces. The margin uf the river was strewed 
with their slain. Five hundred and fifty dead 
bodies laid upon the field, and from two to three 
hundred others were buried in the water. Not 
more than twenty escaped^ and among the dead 
was found their famous prophet, Monahell, with 
two other prophets of less celebrity. The loss of 
the Americans in killed and wounded, amounted 
to about two hundred, among the former of whom 
was major Montgomery, and lieutenants Sommer- 
ville and Moulton, 

This action, which was continued for five hours, 
and till the exterminating sword could find no more 
victims, terminated the Creek war. The Talla- 
poosa king was made prisoner. Tostahatchee, king 
of Hickory, afterwards surrendered himself; and 
Wetherford, their speaker, seeing that all further 
resistance was vain, ranked himself voluntarily 
among the captives.^ In tlie month of April, a 

* In a private interview with g-eneval Jackson, after the battle, 

the intrepid Wetherford thus addressed his conqueror; "l 

fought at fort Mims— I foug-lit the Georgian army— I did you all 
the injury I could.— Hiid I been supported, 1 would have done 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 1 1 1 

peace was concluded, and general Jackson with- 
drew his forces. The terms of the treaty were 
dictated by the United States, and proceeded upon 
the principle of indemnity for the past, and securi- 
ty for the future. The victors were to retain as 
much of the Creek country as would hy its sale 
defray the expenses of the war; and to guard 
against future incursions from the tribes, the right 
of establishing military posts along the line of the 
whole frontier was conceded to them. It does not 
appear hy any means clear, notwithstanding the 
confident assertions to the contrary, that this war, 
so disastrous to the Creeks, was instigated by the 
British government, and it is certain that not a 
single British officer or soldier was found in the 
Indian ranks. 

The message of the American president, at the 
opening of the congress, on the 7th of November, 
1813, announced, that Great Britain had declined 
tlie offer made by the emperor Alexander, to medi- 
ate the existing differences between that power and 
the United States; and under such circumstances, 
the president conceived, that a nation proud of its 
rights, and conscious of its strength, Iiad no choice 
but in exertion of tlie one in support of the other. 
Tlie door of negotiation was not, however, finally 
closed; for while Great Britain was disinclined to 
commit the decision of the question at issue, to the 
mediation of a power that, in common with Amcri- 

you more. Bat my warriors are all killed — lean fight no longer. 
I am sorry fo'' the destruction of my nation— 1 am now in your 
power— do with me what you please— I am a soldier." 



il2 THE UNITED STATES, &:C. 

ca, might be disposed to circumscribe her maritime 
claims, she professed a readiness to nominate pleni- 
potentiaries to treat directly with the plenipoten- 
tiaries of the American government, and expressed 
an earnest wish that their conferences might result 
in establishing, between the two nations, the bless- 
ings and reciprocal advantages of peace.* This 
proposal, wliich was communicated by lord Castle- 
reagh to the American secretary of state, on the 
4th of November, was accepted by the government 
of the United States without hesitation, and Got- 
tenburg, being neutral territory, was fixed upon as 
the place at which the plenipotentiaries should as- 
semble. 

• Despatch from lord Cathcart to the count Nesseh'ode, dated 
Toplitz, September 1, 1813. 



©MA^a^im i: 



The slow operations of diplomacy, combined with 
the great crisis in Europe, which had now arrived, 
and which absorbed the principal attention of the 
British government, doomed the United States of 
America to suffer, for another year, all the horrors 
of war. After the fall of Napoleon, it was held in 
this country, with a lamentable ignorance of the 
rerJ state of the feelings and energies of the United 
States, that Britain, so long tlie undisputed mis- 
tress of the ocean, would soon be able to sweep 
from the seas, the ships of America; and that those 
troops which had acquired so mucli glory when 
contending with tlie veteran armies of Europe, 
would no sooner show themselves on tlie western 
side of the Atlantic, than the panic-struck soldiers 
of the United States, would be driven far within their 
own frontiers. These pleasing illusions were height- 
ened by the hope that England would soon be able 
to dictate peace in the capital of the republic; or at 
least, that the splendour of British triumphs, and 
the pressure of American embarrassments, would 
induce and encourage the inhabitants of the north- 
ern states to form a separate government, under 
the protection of the crown of Great Britain, if not 
actually under the sway of her sceptre. 

During the early part of the year 1814, the war 

with America, was suffered to languish; but no 
K 



114 THE UNITED STATES 

sooner was Europe restored to peace, by tlie de- 
thronement of Bonaparte, than the British govern- 
ment resolved to prosecute the contest v^ith in- 
creased vigour, and to obtain in the field, a recog- 
nition of those maritime rights, which had hitherto 
been so strenuously resisted in the cabinet. Two 
distinct modes of prosecuting the war seem to have 
been determined upon by the British ministry; first, 
an invasion of the coasts of the United States; and, 
second, after the protection of Canada had been 
secui^d, the conquest of so much of the adjoining 
territory, as might, in the event of a future war, 
effectually guard that province from all danger. 
The peace of Paris was scarcely ratified, before 
fourteen thousand of those troops, which had gain- 
ed so much renown under the duke of Wellington, 
were embarked at Bordeaux, for Canada; and about 
the same time, a strong naval force, with an ade- 
quate number of troops, was collected, and des- 
patched for the purpose of invading different parts 
of the coast of the United States. 

So early as the month of March, some move- 
ments had taken place in the American army of 
the north, under general Wilkinson, indicative of 
an intention to try once more tlie fortune of war on 
the Canadian territory; and on the 30th of that 
month, the position of Odell-town, under the com- 
mand of major Hancock, was attacked with con- 
siderable vigour; but the resistance made by the 
British commander was so spirited and judicious, 
that the assailants were repulsed with considerable 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 113 

loss, and obliged again to retreat to tlieir position 
at Plattsburg. 

Before tiie reinforcements from Europe arrived 
in America, an expedition was undertaken, under 
the command of general Drummond and commo- 
dore sir James Yeo, against the fort of Oswego, on 
Lake Oiitai-io. On the 6th of May, preparations 
were made for commencing tiie attack, but it was 
soon discovered that the garrison had made tlieir 
escape, and general Drummond took possession of 
the town and fort without opposition. After the 
barracks had been destroyed, and all the damage 
inflicted upon the works that was found practica- 
ble, the troops re-embarked, bringing away seven 
lieavy guns, and a quantity of stores. Another 
attempt, on a small scale, made on Sandy Creek, 
by captain Popjjam of the navy, in concert with 
captain Spilsbury, proved unfortunate, and was at- 
tended with a loss of cigliteeii men killed, and fifty 
dangerously wounded, exclusive of prisoners. 

A lai'ge American force, under major-general 
Brown, crossed the Niagara river, on the 3d of Ju- 
ly, and advancing against fort Eric, demanded the 
surrender of the garrison. Major Buck, lowborn 
the command of the fort was confided, appears to 
have been very ill-informed of tlie hostile movement 
by which he was assailed: and, instead of his aton- 
ing for his want of vigilance, by a gallant defence, 
surrendered the fort at the first summons, himself, 
and one hundred and forty men, being made pris- 
oners of war. After the fall of fort Erie, general 
Brown advanced towards the British lines of Chip- 



116 THE U:S^ITED STATES 

paway; but no sooner was major-general Riall, 
who commanded the British troops in the neigh- 
bourhood, made acquainted with this movement, 
than he ordered the immediate advance of five 
companies of royal Scots to reinforce the garrison, 
while a detachment of the 100th rcgiment^^ with a 
body of militia, and a few Indians, moved forward 
for the purpose of reconnoitring the position, and 
ascertaining the number of the enemy. Early in 
the morning of the 5th, several affairs of posts took 
place, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, both 
armies were drawn up in battle array on a plain, 
about a mile to the west of Chippaway. The ene- 
my, in expectation of being attacked, had taken up 
a position, with his right, under general Scott, 
resting on an orchard, close to the river Niagara, 
and strongly supported by artillery; his left, under 
general Porter, rested on a wood, with a body of 
riflemen and Indians in front; and general Rip- 
ley's brigade placed in reserve. In a few minutes 
the British line advanced in three columns, the 
light companies of the royal Scots, and the 100th 
regiment, with the £d Lincoln, forming the ad- 
vance, under lieutenant-colonel Pearson, while the 
Indian warriors, posted on the right flank, occu- 
pied the woods. About half past four, the Cana- 
dian militia and the Indians, were sharply engaged 
with the enemy's riflemen and Indians, who at 
first checked their advance; but the light troops 
being brought to their support, the division under 
general Porter, consisting principally of the New- 
York and Pennsylvania volunteers, gave way, and 



AND GKEAT BRITAIN. IIT 

fled in every direction. After this success, gener- 
al Riall ordered tlie king's regiment to move to the 
right, while the royal Scots, and the 100th regi- 
ment, were directed to charge the enemy in front. 
The steady bravery witli which this cliarge was 
received by general Scott's brigade, gave the first 
intimation, that tlie Americans had found, in the in- 
creased gallantry of their armies, a counterpoise 
against the veteran troops whicli Great Britain was 
at this moment pouring upon their shores. Two 
battalions of general Scott's brigade, with an en- 
larged interval between them, received the assail- 
ants in open plain, and prepared to take them in 
front and flank at the same time, while captain 
Towson, advanced to the front of the British left 
with three pieces of artillery, and took post on the 
river. The fire of the enemy's corps, accompanied 
by their artillery, produced a visible impression 
upon the British ranks, and the explosion of an 
ammunition wagon, silenced the most efficient of 
their batteries. A heavy discharge of canister 
shot was now poured on the British infantry, and 
general Riall, being no longer able to sustain this 
accumulated fire, ordered the attack to be abaiv- 
doned, and the troops to retire behind their works 
at Cliippaway. In this engagement, which closed 
only with the day, lieutenant-colonel Gordon, of 
the royal Scots, and lieutenant-colonel the Marquis 
of Tweedale, late aid-de-camp to the Duke of Wel- 
lington, were both wounded, as were most of tJie 
officers belonging to their respective regiments* 
The loss on both sides was nearly equal, and may 

K 2 



118 THE UNITED STATES 

be estimated, in round numbers, at five hundred 
each. The nurriber of British regulars eng-a^ed in 
the battle of Chippaway, is stated by their general, 
at fifteen hundred, exclusive of militia and Indians; 
and on the same authority, it is said, that the ene- 
my^s force amounted to about six thousand men. 
(25) 

Emboldened by the success which had attended 
their first operations, the enemy looked forward to 
still greater advantages. After the action of the 
5th, general Riall retreated to a position near fort 
Niagara; and the American army took post at 
Chippaway. On the arrival of general Drummond 
at Niagara, on the morning of the £5th of July, he 
advanced at the head of a considerable force to- 
wards the Falls; and scarcely had he formed a 
junction with general Riall, when intelligence ar- 
rived that the American army, under Gen. Brown, 
was again advancing. The British general imme- 
diately proceeded to meet the enemy, whom he 
found strongly posted oii a rising ground at Bridge- 
water, near the Falls of Niagara, and within the 
sound of the thunders of that stupendous cataract. 
Without a moment's delay, the 89th regiment, the 
royal Scots detachments, and the light companies 
of the 41st, formed in the rear of the hill, their 
left resting on the great road to Queenstown; and 
two twenty-four pounder brass field guns were 
placed a little advanced in front of the centre, on 
the summit of the rising ground; while the Glen- 
gary light infantry, the battalion of incorporated 
militia, and a detachment of the king's regiment. 



AND GllEAT BRlTAir^T. 119 

occupied the left of the road, supported in the rear, 
by a sqiiadrjn of the 19tli light dragoons, under 
the command of major Lisle. This disposition of 
the British forces was no sooner completed, than 
they were attacked by brigadier-general Scott, 
and before the remainder of the American army 
had crossed the Chippaway, the action became 
close and general between the advanced corps. On 
the arrival of general Brown upon the field, he 
found that the first brigade had passed the wood, 
near the Falls, and tliat the 9th, 11th, and 52d re- 
giments, with Towson's artillery, were engaged on 
the Queenstown road, directing their principal ef- 
forts against the left and centre of the British. — 
The eminence occupied by the British artillery, 
supported by the 2d battalion of the 89th regiment, 
under lieutenant-colonel Morrison, was conceived 
by general Brown, to be the key of tlie whole posi- 
tion, and colonel Miller was ordered to advance 
and carry the height at tlie point of the bayonet. 
The struggle at this point was arduous in the ex- 
treme; and the British troops, finding themselves 
severely pressed, formed round the colours of the 
89th, and fought with invincible bravery. About 
the same time, major Jessup succeeded in turning 
the British left flank; and general Riall, having 
received a severe wound in his arm, was intercept- 
ed by captain Ketchum's detachment as he was 
passing to the rear, and made prisoner. In the 
centre, the repeated and determined attacks of the 
Americans were met with the most perfect steadi- 
ness and intrepid gallantry, and they were con- 



120 THE UNITED STATES 

stantly repulsed with very lieavy loss. These at- 
tacks were directed against the guns of the British 
w ith so much vigour and determination, that the 
artillerymen were bayoneted in the act of loading 
their cannon, and the muzzles of the enemy's guns- 
were advanced within a few yards of those by 
wliich they were opposed. The night, which had 
now closed in upon the combatants, failed to put 
an end to the battle, and during this extraordinary 
conflict, the two armies, mistaking each other's 
guns, actually made an exchange, by which the 
enemy obtained one, and the British two pieces. — 
The battle, having raged three hours, w^as sus- 
pended about nine o'clock, by mutual consent; 
during which time the enemy was employed in 
bringing up his reserves. In a short time the ac- 
tion was renewed; and general Porter, at the head 
of his New York and Pennsylvania volunteers^ 
made a gallant charge, which retrieved the charac- 
ter of the corps, and called forth the praises of the 
cammander of the American army. About this 
period, general Drummond received a reinforce- 
ment of troops, under colonel Scott, consisting of 
the 103d regiment, the head quarter divisions of 
the royal Scots, and king's, and the flank compa- 
nies of the 104th regiment. This seasonable supply 
of troops seems to have decided the fortune of the 
dayj and at midnight, the enemy, finding all his ef- 
forts to obtain possession of the hill unavailing, 
gave up the contest, and retreated to his camp be- 
yond Cliippaway, carrying with him the wounded 
and artillery. On the day following, he abandon- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 121 

ed his camp, throwing the greater part of his hag- 
gage, camp equipage, and provisions, into the rap- 
ids; and having destroyed thehridge at Chippaway, 
continued his retreat towards fort Erie. "Tlie loss 
sustained hy the enemy in this severe action, can- 
not," says general Drummond in his despatches, 
<<be estimated at less than fifteen hundred men, in- 
cluding several hundred prisoners; his two com- 
manding generals, Brown and Scott, were both 
wounded,* his whole force, which has never been 
rated at less than five thousand, having been enga- 
ged. The number of troops under my command, 
did not, for the first three hours, exceed sixteen 
hundred men; and the addition of troops under col- 
onel Scott, did not increase it to more than two 
thousand eight hundred, of every description."^ 
The battle of Bridgewater, was without exception, 
the most sanguinary, and decidedly the best fought 
action, which had taken place on the American con- 
tinent. The repeated charges, and the actual con- 
test with the bayonet, are alone sufficient to render 
this engagement remarkable; and the charge made 
by colonel Millei^ on the crest of the British posi- 
tion, is said to have exhibited traits of heroism, in- 
ferior only to those displayed at the storming of 
St. Sebastian. (26) 
A resolution was now formed to attempt the re- 

* According" to the American accounts, the whole amount of 
their force engaged on the 25tli July, did not not exceed 2800, of 
which their loss, in killed, wounded, and missing-, amounted but 
to 860; while the loss of the British is stated by g^eneral Drum- 
mond, at 878. 



12^ THE UNITED STATES 

capture of fort Erie; and for this purpose, general 
Drummond, who had advanced to that place, open- 
ed the fire of his batteries against it on the 13th of 
August. Owing to the severe wounds received by 
the American generals Brown and Scott, in the 
battle of Bridgewater, the command of tlie left wing, 
of the second division of the northern army had 
devoiv^ed upon brigadier-general Gaines, who had 
exerted his utmost efforts to strengthen his position 
within the fort. During the 13th and 14th, a brisk 
cannonade was kept up against the works, when 
general Drummond, having reason to believe that 
a sufficient impression had been produced, resolv- 
ed to carry the place by a nocturnal assault. Two 
attacks were accordingly ordered to be made; the 
one by a heavy column under lieutenant-colonel 
Fischer, directed against the intrenchments on the 
side of Snakehill; and the other, under colonel 
Scott, and lieutenant-colonel Drummond, on the 
fort and intrenchments leading to the lake. At 
half past two o'clock in the morning of the 15th, 
two hours before day-light, the British columns 
advanced to the attack, when lieutenant-colonel 
Fischer, emerging from a thick wood, found him- 
self suddenly checked, within ten yards of the in- 
trenchment, by a kind of abbatis, defenced by the 
enemy's musketry under major Wood, and by their 
cannon under captain Towson. The attention of 
the American general was soon after called to the 
right, where the approach of the centre and left of 
the British columns, under colonels Drummond and 
Scott, was announced by a fire of cannon and mus- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 123 

ketry, A vigorous attack, made by the left col- 
umn, under colonel Scott, was successfully resisted 
by the New-York and Pennsylvania volunteers, 
aided by a six-pounder, under major M*Ree; but 
tlie centre, led on by colonel Drummond, was not 
long kept in check; it approached, at once, every 
assailable point of the fort, and with scaling lad- 
ders ascended^ tlie parapet. The assault at this 
point was twice repeated, and as often checked; but 
the British troops, having moved round the ditch 
unobserved, re-ascended their ladders, and after 
carrying the bastion at the point of the bayonet, 
actually turned the guns of the fortress against its 
defenders. According to the American accounts, 
colonel Drummond performed prodigies of valour, 
but on the same autliority, a stigma is cast upon the 
memory o tliis gallant officer, by the assertion that 
he frequently reiterated a sanguinary order to 
*\give the damned yankees no quarter."* The 
battle now raged with increased fury, and several 
attempts were made by the garrison to dislodge the 
assailants; but in a moment every operation was 
arrested by tiie accidental explosion of a quantity 
of ammunition which had been placed under the 
platform, and by which almost all the troops that 
had entered the place were dreadfully mangled. A 
panic instantly communicated itself to the British 
troops; and so fixed was their persuasion, that the 
explosion was not accidental, that the utmost ex- 
ertion of the few surviving officers to restore order 

• Despatches from general Gaines, to the American Secretary^ 
at War, dated Fort Erie, August 23d, 18U, 



124 THE UNITED STATES 

proved ineffectual. The enemy, availing himself 
of this advantage, pressed forward upon the disor- 
dered columns, and before day appeared, the be- 
siegers were obliged to abandon the bastion, and 
to seek shelter behind their own batteries. The 
loss of the British, in this disastrous enterprise, 
amounted, in killed, wounded, and missing, to up- 
wards of nine hundred men; and both colonel Scott 
and lieutenant-colonel Drummond were numbered 
among the slain. The American loss \vas compar- 
atively small, and is stated, in their own accounts, 
not to have exceeded eighty-four men, of whom sev- 
enteen were killed, fifty-six wounded, and eleven 
missing. 

The loss of tlie Bi-itish army w^as greatly aggra- 
vated by a sortie made upon their works before fort 
Erie, on the 17th of September, and from the de- 
tails of whicli, as stated in tlie American official 
reports, it should appear, tliat a due degree of vigi- 
lance did not prevail in the camp. Early in the 
morning of that day, the infantry and riflemen, 
both of tlie regulars and militia, were ordered by 
general Brown, who liad now resumed the com- 
mand, to hold themselves in a state of readiness to 
march against the English batteries. At twelve 
o'clock, general Porter was ordered to move, at tlie 
head of his detachment, by a passage previously 
opened tlirough the woods, for tlie purpose of at- 
tacking the right of the besieging army. General 
Miller was, at the same time, directed to occupy 
the ravine between fort Erie and the batteries, 
wliile general Ripley was posted with a corps of 



AINTD GREAT BHITAIA. 125 

reserve between the two bastions of the fort. Soon 
after three o'clock in tlje afternoon, general Por- 
ter's column, which was destined to penetrate to 
the rear of tlie Britisli batteries, and to turn their 
right, carried a strong block-house by storm, while 
general Miller, advancing from the ravine, pierced 
the intrenchments,* and within half an hour from 
the time that tlie first gun was fired, two of the bat- 
teries out of tlie three were in possession of the en- 
emy. The fate of tlie remaining battery was soon 
after decided, and the assailants, having spiked the 
British guns, and destroyed one of the magazines, 
withdrew within their own lines. TIius, in the 
short space of one hour, the fruits of fifty day's la- 
bour were destroyed, and the efficient force of the 
British army diminished at least one thousand 
men, of whom three hundred and eighty-five were 
made prisoners. The aggregate loss of the Amer- 
icans amounted to five hundred and eleven, of whom 
forty-five were officers, and the remainder non- 
commissioned officers and privates. After the des- 
truction of his works before fort Erie, general 
Drummond broke up his camp, and returned on 
the niglit of the 21st, to his intrenchments behind 
Chippaway. (27) 



©SA^^mm 



It now Iiad become abundantly evident that the 
Americans had been taught to fight on the land as 
well as upon the ocean, and that they were indebted 
to Great Britain for their instruction: but the hope 
was cherished, that, as soon as sir George Prevost 
Iiad received all the reinforcements which were des- 
patclied to him immediately after the peace of Par- 
is, a splendid and decisive victory over the enemy 
would be obtained. Upon the arrival of these re- 
inforcements, no time was lost in assembling three 
brigades on the frontier of Lower Canada, and in 
forming them into a division, under the command 
of major-general de Roitenburgh, for the purpose 
of transferring the seat of war into the enemy's ter- 
ritory. The invading army, under the governor- 
general, was now swelled to fourteen tliousand 
men; and on his approach to the line of separation 
between Lower Canada and the United States, the 
American army abandoned their intrenched camp 
at Champlain, which was occupied on the 3d of 
September, by the British forces. The following 
day the whole of the left division advancsid to the 
village of Chazy, and on the 5th, halted within 
eight miles of Plattsburgli, having surmounted all 
the difficulties created by the obstructions in the 
road, from the foiling of trees, and the removal of 



128 THE UNITED STATES 

bridges. On the 6th, the whole division moved 
upon Plattshiirgh, in two columns, the right led by 
major-general Power's brigade, and the left by the 
brigade under major-general Brisbane. The New- 
York militia, commanded by general Moores, sup- 
ported by a detachment of regular troops, under 
major Wood, attempted to impede the advance of 
the right column of the British army; but the mi- 
litia could not be prevailed upon to stand, notwith- 
standing the exertions of their general and staff 
officers; and general Power's column entered Platts- 
burgh without ever having deployed in their whole 
line of march. By this rapid movement, the ene- 
my's strong position at Dead Creek was reversed, 
and leaving his gun-boats to defend the ford, he 
retreated to an elevated ridge of land on the south 
side of the river Saranac. This position, render- 
ed strong by nature, was crowned with three re- 
doubts, and other field works, and defended by fif- 
teen hundred effective troops, under the command 
of general Macomb. On the advance of the Bri- 
tish army to Plattsburgh, the southern part of 
which city is washed by the waters of the Saranac, 
at their junction with Cumberland Bay, the Amer- 
ican general ordered the planks to be taken off the 
bridges, and piled up in the form of breast-works, 
to cover the parties intended to dispute the passage 
of the river. From the 7th to the 11th, sir George 
Prevost was employed in bringing up his battering 
train; and captain Downie, who had recently been 
appointed to command the British fleet on lake 
Champlain, w^as urged to advance into the bay of 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 129 

flattsburgli, in order to co-operate with tlie land 
forces, f lie British army now only waited the ar- 
rival of the flotilla, and at seven o'clock in the 
morning of the 1 1th, the vessels were seen over the 
isthmus which joins Cumberland-Head with the 
main land, steering for the bay, witli the determin- 
ation to engage the Amei'ican flotilla under commo- 
dore Macdonough. At the same instant the batte- 
ries were opened upon the enemy's position on the 
Saranac, and the brigades under major-general 
Robinson and major-general Power, were ordered 
to force the ford, and to escalade the enemy's w^orks 
upon the heiglits. 

The enemy's fleet, which consisted of a ship, a 
brig, and two schooners, was moored in line abreast 
of their intrenched camp, with a division of five 
gun -boats on each flank. Captain Downie, in tlie 
Confiance, having determined on laying his ship 
close to the American commodore's ship, the Sara- 
toga, directed lieutenant M^Ghee, of the Cliub, to 
support captain Pring, in the Linnet, in engaging 
the brig to the riglit, and lieutenant Hicks, of the 
Fincli, with the flotilla of gunboats, to attack the 
schooner and sloop on the left of the enemy's line. 
At eiglit o'clock, the American gun-boats and 
smaller vessels commenced a heavy and galling fire 
on the British line, and at ten minutes after eight, 
the Confiance, having two anchors shot away from 
her larboard bow, was obliged to anchor, though 
within two cables length of her adversary. The 
Linnet and Chub soon afterwards took their allot- 
ted stations, at about the same distance, when the 
1 2 



130 THE UNITED STATES 

crews on both si;! ^ i ueercd, nntl commenced a 
spirited and close action. A short time, however, 
deprived the service of the Chub, N\hich, from hav- 
ing her cables, bowsprit, and mainrboom shot away, 
drifted into the enemy's line, and was obliged to 
surrender. From the light airs, and the unruffled 
surface of the lake, the fire on both sides proved 
very destructive; and after two hours of severe con- 
flict, during which captain Dowiiie was slain, the 
Confiance struck her colours. The whole of the 
enemy's fleet then directed their destructive can- 
nonade against the Linnet, and captain Pring, hav- 
ing ascertained that his brave commander had al- 
ready fallen, and that all hope of relief had vanish- 
ed, conceived that the situation of his gallant com- 
rades, who had so nobly fought, and were every 
moment falling by his side, demanded the surren- 
der of his vessel, gave the painful orders for the 
colours to be struck. The same fate awaited the 
Chub and the Finch, and the gun-boats were in- 
debted, for their escape, to the sliattered condition 
of the enemy's vessels. In this disastrous action, 
the loss on both sides was severe, and when the 
comparative strength of the two squadrons, as sta- 
ted by the Americans, is considered, the result 
would be most humiliating, were it not known that 
captain Downie was urged into the action before 
his ship, which had only been ten days off* the 
stocks, was in a fit condition to meet the enemy.* 

* Despatches from sir James Lucas Yeo to J. W. Croker, Esq. 
dated September 24, 181*. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 131 

Coinparallve view of the force and loss of the hostile Fleets. 





Biir 


nsH. 








Gitns. 


Men. 


Killed. 


TVounded. 


Con fiance, 


- 39 


300 


50 


60 


Linnet, - - - 


- 16 


120 


20 


SO 


Chub, - - - 


11 


40 


6 


10 


Finch, - - - 


- 11 


40 


8 


10 


Thirteen gun-boats, 1 8 


550 





00 


Total, - - - 


- 95 


1,050 


84 


no 




AMERICAN. 








Guns. 


Men. 


Killed. 


Wounded. 


Saratoga, - - 


- 26 


210 


28 


29 


Eagle, - - - 


- 20 


120 


13 


20 


Ticoiidcroga, - 


- 17 


110 


6 


6 


Preble, - - - 


■ - 7 


SO 


2 





Ten gun-boats. 


- 16 


350 


3 


3 



Total, - - - . 86 820 52 58 

>yhilc the vessels were engaged upon the lake, 
the land forces, under general Robinson and gen- 
eral Power, had succeeded in effecting a passage 
across the Saranac; but no sooner were the shouts 
of victory heard from the enemy's works, in con- 
sequence of the success of their squadron, than sir 
George Prevost arrested the course of his troops, 
and ordered them to retreat. In the evening of the 
same day the British batteries were dismantled; 
and at two o'clock the next morning the army re- 
treated, leaving a large proportion of the sick, 
wounded, and stores, in tlie hands of the enemy. 
The estimate of the loss of every kind sustained by 
the British in their expedition against the United 



1S2 THE UNITED STATES 



States, as made by the Americans, is enormous; 
but the return transmitted by sir George Prevost, 
to his government, of the loss in action between the 
6th and the 14th of September, does not amount to 
two hundred and fifty men. The desertions how- 
ever, swelled this number to a large amount, and 
every idea of penetrating into the enemy's coun- 
try, from the side of Lower Canada, was aban- 
doned. 

It is scarcely possible to conceive the degree of 
mortification and disappointment created in Great 
Britain, hy the arrival of this disastrous intelli- 
gence. Troops, which had been victorious in 
Spain, and France; which had not only fought and 
conquered under the Duke of Wellington, but wliich 
had received his particular commendation for their 
steadiness and bravery; l)ad now been bafiicd and 
defeated by an American army, less than one-third 
their number; by men, to whom veteran troops 
would scarcely award the name of soldiers; and 
who, but a few mont'us before, liad fled before the 
Canadian militia. In Canada, the complaints were 
loud and general against Sir George Prevost. The 
flotilla, it was said, had been sacrificed by his pre- 
cipitancy; and the officers of his army were of 
opinion, that even without naval co-operation, 
Plattsburgh might have been carried, had not the 
peremptory orders of the governor-general obliged 
them reluctantly to retreat within their own fron- 
tier. (28) 



©MAll^^m ^1. 



The operations on the banks of lake Champlain 
terminated the principal events of the war on the 
Canadian frontier. Neither of the belligerent states 
had, in the course of the contest, gained any ex- 
tension of territory in this quarter; and of the 
numerous attempts made by the contending armies 
to alter the line of demarkation, not one of them 
had been attended with permanent success. The 
well-balanced skill and prowess of the maritime 
subjects of the two countries continued to vibrate; 
and alternate success and disaster left the question 
of naval ascendency to be decided probably by fu- 
ture wars. In the autumn of the year 1812, the 
United States' frigate Essex, captain Porter, had 
proceeded to sea from the Delaware, and, after 
making several valuable prizes on the coast of 
Brazil, shaped her course for the Pacific ocean, 
where she inflicted great injuries on British com- 
merce, particularly upon the shipping employed in 
the spermaceti whale fishery. The numerous cap- 
tures made by the Essex, having at length attract- 
ed the attention of the British board of admiralty, 
captain Hillyar was despatched in the Phoebe fri- 
gate, accompanied by Capt. Tucker, in the Cherub 
sloop of war, for the purpose of protecting the 
trade, and putting an end to the depredations to 



134 THE UNITED STATES 

which it had become exposed. After a quest of 
nearly five months, the American frigate was dis- 
covered, along with a corvette, of twenty guns, 
riding at anchor on the coast of Chili, in the Span- 
ish port of Valparaiso. The great inferiority of 
the American vessels deterred them for some time 
from venturing to sea in the face of the Phoebe and 
her consort, but after suffering a blockade of six 
weeks, captain Porter slipped his cable in the 
morning of the 28th of March, 1814, and attempt- 
ed to escape out of the bay. On rounding the 
point of the harbour, the main-top mast of the Es- 
sex was carried away by a squall, and not being 
able to regain the limits of the neutral port, she 
bore up, and anchored to the leeward of the shore. 
After some distant firing, the Phoebe closed with 
the Essex, at thirty-five minutes past five o'clock 
in the afternoon, when a sanguinary but unequal 
contest ensued, during which the Cherub, having 
placed herself under the enemy's stern, contributed 
materially to her annoyance. The decks of the 
Essex soon became strewed with her dead, and 
her cock-pit filled with the wounded. Many of 
her guns were rendered useless, and several of 
them had the whole complement of their men des- 
troyed. Still her commander, with an obstinacy 
bordering on desperation, persisted in the unequal 
conflict, and every expedient that a fertile mind 
and a determined spirit could suggest, was resort- 
ed to, in the hope that some of the fortunate changes 
incident to naval warfare might rescue him from 
the hands of his antagonists. Several times dur- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN-. 135 

ing the engagement his ship had taken fire; and 
towards its close, the flames burst out at the hatch- 
ways both fore and aft. Thus surrounded by hor- 
rors, captain Porter advised such of liis crew as 
could swim, to jump overboard and make for the 
shore; while those that remained in the ship, were 
employed in extinguislii ng the flames. All this 
time, the smoothness of the water, and the secure 
distance of the Phoebe and the Cherub, enabled 
them to keep up a deliberate and constant fire at 
the enemy; and captain Porter, finding his crew 
extremely weakened, determined to summon a con- 
sultation of his oflicers; but to his surprise he found 
that only one, lieutenant M*Knight, remained, all 
the others having been either killed or disabled. — 
At length, after one of the most obstinately con- 
tested actions on naval record, ^'humanity tore 
down the colours which valour had nailed to the 
mast," and the American captain was compelled, 
at twenty minutes past six o'clock, to give the 
painful order to strike.* The loss of the Essex is 
a sufficient testimony of the desperate bravery with 
wluch she was defended. Out of two hundred and 
fifty-five men who composed her crew, fifty-eight 
were killed, thirty-nine wounded severely, twenty- 
seven slighty, and thirty-one were missing; con- 
stituting an aggregate of one hundred and fifty- 
four. The British ships, on the contrary, had 
only five killed, and ten wounded, among the for- 

• Captain Porter's letter to the Secretary of the American 

Kavy. 



136 THE UNITED STATES 

mer of whom was lieutenant Ingham, of the Phoebe; 
and among the latter, Capt. Tucker, of the Cherub. 
In the official account of this engagement, trans- 
mitted to his government, captain Hillyar, with 
the spirit of a brave man, bestowed a liberal share 
of praise on the gallantry of the enemy; and on 
the return of captain Porter to America, he was 
hailed as one of the most distinguished naval he- 
roes of his country. 

A severe action, issuing unfortunately to the 
British flag, took place on the esth of June, near 
the entrance to St. George's Channel, between the 
English brig Reindeer, Captain Manners, and the 
American sloop of war Wasp, Captain Biakeley. 
Perceiving an enemy to leeward, on the morning 
of that day, captain Manners gave chase, and 
about three o'clock in the afternoon, the two hostile 
vessels were yard arm to yard-arm. For five and 
twenty minutes the engagement was maintained 
with the most determined bravery, when the Rein- 
deer, having lost her gallant commander, her pur- 
ser, and twenty-seven men killed, besides forty 
wounded, and having been repulsed in two at- 
tempts to board, was under the necessity of stri- 
king her colours. The proportion between the 
two ships, in size, weight of metal, and comple- 
ment of men, was greatly in favour of the Wasp, 
and so completely was her adversary dismantled, 
that she could not be kept afloat, but was, on the 
following day, set on fire and destroyed. (29) 

On the 8th of July, the Wasp, after making a 
number of other captures, put into L'Orient, which 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 157 

port she left on the 27tl» of August, and resumes 
her cruise. Four days after her departure from 
the French port, she was met at sea by tlie Biitish 
sloop of war Avon, of twenty guns, commanded by 
captain Arbuthnot. An obstinate action immedi- 
ately commenced, wliich continued for forty-five 
minutes, and wliich terminated in the surrender of 
the British sloop; but before the boats of the Wasp 
could be lowered for the purpose of taking posses- 
sion of her prize, three other sail of British ships 
hove in sight, and captain Blakelcy was not only 
obliged to abandon his prize, but to seek his own 
safety in flight. The Wasp afterwards continued 
her cruise, making great havoc among the mer- 
chant vessels, of which she captured and destroyed 
no fewer than fifteen. Nor was the success of the 
enemy on the ocean confined to their national ves- 
sels, tlieir privateers made many rich captures, not 
merely on their own coats, and among the West 
India Islands, but on the coast of England and 
Ireland; and thus, with a navy of nearly one thou- 
sand ships, and without any other enemy than the 
American states, Great Britain had the mortifi- 
cation to see lier commerce interrupted, and the 
property of her merchants captured even in their 
own seas. It is true indeed that the balance of 
captures was in favour of England; but the pro- 
portion of prizes made by this country was far 
below the proportional superiority of her navy; 
jior did it seem too much to expect, from the means 
placed at the disposal of the board of admiralty, 
that every American vessel that put to aea should be 
made to swell the number of British captures. (29) 
M 



©MAi^im sii. 



X HE oj)crations of the British armaments on the 
coast of the United States, had Iiitherto been on a 
small scale, and calculated rather to alarm and 
irritate than to promote any permanent effect^ but 
during the present year the resolution was taken 
to "destroy and lay waste such towns and dis- 
tricts upon the coast as miglit be found assail- 
able,"^ and for this purpose, a large naval arma- 
ment was employed, under the command of vice- 
admiral sir Alexander Cochrane, having on board 
a powerful land force, commanded by major gene- 
ral Robert Ross. On the 17th of August, admiral 
Cochrane entered the Patuxent, with the intention 
to co-operate with rear-admiral Cockburn; in an 
attack upon a flotilla of the enemy's gun boats, 
under the command of commodore Barney, and 
with the ulterior object of striking a decisive blow 
against the capital of the United States. On the 
19th, the army landed at Benedict, on the right 
bank of the Patuxent, without opposition; and on 
the 22d the expedition reached Pig Point, where 
admiral Cockburn descried the broad pendant of 
the American flotilla. No time was lost in the 
British boats in advancing to the attack; but on 
their near approach, it was discovered that ail the 

* Admiral Cochrane's Letter to JMr. Monroe, dated on board 
the Tonnant, August 18th, 18-0. 



140 THE UNITED STATES 

enemy's vessels were abandoned, and before they 
could be taken possession of, sixteen out of the se- 
vejiteen, of which the flotilla consisted, were blown 
into the air. The British commanders now resol- 
ved to proceed against Washington, from which 
they were distant only sixteen miles. Late in the 
evening of the 22d, the American general Winder^ 
to whose command the army appointed to cover 
the capital was confided, was joined by the presi- 
dent of the United States, the secretary at war, 
the secretary of the navy, and the attorney-ge- 
neral; and in the morning of the 2Sd, the troops 
were drawn up at Battalion-Old-Fields, within five 
five miles of the capital, and passed in review be- 
fore the president. On the 24th, the British troops, 
resumed their march, and about twelve o'clock, the 
enemy was discovered formed in two lines, strong- 
ly posted on commanding heights, on the opposite 
side of tlie eastern branch of the Potowmac, his ad- 
vance occupying a fortified house, which, with ar- 
tillery, covered the bridge over which general Ross 
had to pass; while a broad and direct road, leading 
from the bridge to Washington, ran through the 
enemy's position, which was carefully defended by 
artillery and riflemen. 

The proper dispositions being made, the attack 
was commenced with so much impetuosity by tlie 
light brigade, consisting of the 85th light infantry, 
and the light infantry companies, under the com- 
mand of colonel Thornton, that the fortified house 
was shortly carried, and the enemy obliged to re- 



AXD GREAT BRITAIx^. 141 

tire to the heights. In support of the light brigade, 
general Ross ordered up a brigade under colonel 
Brooke, who, with the 44th regiment, attacked the 
enemy's left, under general Smith; tlie 4th regi- 
ment pressing his right, under general Stansbury 
with sucli effect, as to cause him to abandon his 
guns. Tlie first line having given way, was driven 
upon the second, which, yielding to the irresistible 
attack of the bayonet, and the well directed dis- 
charge of rockets, was thrown into confusion, and 
fied, leaving the British masters of the field. The 
rapid flight of the enemy, and his perfect know- 
ledge of the country, precluded the possibility of 
making many prisoners; and the fatigue to which 
the troops had been exposed by a march of eleven 
miles before the battle commonced, on a sultry 
day, prevented the pursuit from being followed up 
with vigour. The enemy's army amounted to 
from eight to nine thousand men, with three or 
four hundred cavalry;* his artillery, ten pieces of 
which fell into the hands of the victors, was com- 
manded by commodore Barney, who was wounded, 
and taken prisoner. The retreating army being 
ordered to move upon Washington, general Winder 
repaired to that city, where a council was hastily 
called, at which Mr. Monroe, the secretary of 

* General Ross's despatches. According to the American 
official accounts, their force did not exceed 6,053 infantry and 
cavalry. The British force, on the same autliority, is stated at 
4,500, See *'Report of the Committee of Investigation on the Cap- 
ture of JVashin^rton" dated Novembw 23, 1814. 
M 2 



142 THE UNITED STATES 

state, and general Armstrong, the secretary at war, 
assisted, and at which it was the prevailing opinion, 
tliat from the dispersion of a large proi)ortion of 
the American force, and the disorganized state of 
the remainder of the army, the defence of the city 
was impracticable. Under this desponding im- 
pression, the troops were ordered to retreat to 
George Town, and to take up a position upon the 
heights in, the vicinity of that place. 

General Ross, after having halted his army for 
a few hours, determined to march upon Wasliing- 
ton, and at eight o'clock in the evening tlie army 
under his command reached that city. Judging 
it of consequence to complete the destruction of tlie 
public buildings with the least possible delay, the 
capital, including the senate house, and house of 
representatives, was consigned to the flames; and 
the arsenal, the dock-yard, the treasury, the war- 
office, and the president's palace, with a rope walk, 
and the great bridge across the Potowmac, shar- 
ed the same fate. In the dock-yard, a frigate 
nearly ready to be launched, and a sloop of war, 
were consumed. The object of the expedition 
being thus accomplished, general Ross determined 
to withdraw the troops before any great force of 
the enemy could be aasembled. On the evening of 
the 25th, the army left Washington; and having 
reached Benedict on the ^9tii, the whole force, 
estimated at five thousand men, was embarked on 
the following day without molestation. The total 
loss of the British in the battle of Bladensburg 
amounted only to sixty-four killed, and one hun- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 145 

dred and eighty-five wounded;* and the loss of 
the American army, as stated in their own ac- 
counts, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, amount- 
ing only to one hundred and eighty. Two hun- 
dred and sixty pieces of cannon, five hundred and 
forty barrels of gun-powder, and one hundred 
thousand ball-cartridges, swelled the trophies of 
the victorious army; and the repeated explosions 
which took place in the city of Washington and 
its neighbourhood during the night of the 24th, 
sufficiently proved, that the injury suffered by the 
enemy was still more considerable.! 

The capture of Washington made a deep impres- 
sion, not only in England and America, but also 
in France, and other parts of Europe. In Eng- 
land, tlic intelligence was at first received with 
great exultation, and it was confidently expected 
that Mr. Madison, who had witnessed the destruc- 
tion of his capital, and had been made personally 
sensible of the superiority of British troops, would 
now sue for peace; or at least, that lie w^ould be- 
come so decidedly unpopular, that the general voice 
of his country would hurl him from that elevation 
which he had so unworthily attained. Such were 
the fii*st impressions which the intelligence of this 
event created in England; but these expectations 

* Despatches from general Ross to Earl Bathurst, dated on 
board the Tonnant, Aujjust 30th, 18U. 

■j- The destruction of public property at Washington, exclu- 
sive of the public library, is estimated at the sum of 969,171 
dollars. — Report of ilie Committee of Investigation, on tJie Capiurc 
of Wmhington. 



144 THE UNITED STATES 

soon gave way to more sober views. It was con- 
sidered that Washington, though nominally the cap- 
ital of the United States, could not boast a popu- 
lation exceeding some of our manufacturing villa- 
ges; that its number of houses scarcely amounted 
to nine hundred; and that the inhabitants in the 
city and its suburbs were stated in the last census 
of the United States at only eight thousand two 
hundred and eight souls. Such a capital was 
not then to be considered in the light of an Euro- 
pean metropolis; and the question naturally arose, 
whether the feelings to which its destruction would 
give rise would increase or diminish the populari- 
ty of the war party in America. Nor could it be 
concealed that the extent of devastation inflicted 
by the victors brought a heavy censure upon the 
British character, and low^ered her rank in the 
scale of nations. It was indeed acknowledged that 
strict discipline was observed while the troops were 
in possession of Washington, and that private 
property w^as scrupulously protected; but the de- 
struction, not only of etablishments connected 
with w^ar, but of edifices consecrated to the pur- 
pose of civil government, and affording speci- 
mens of the advance of the fine arts among a 
rising people, was thought an indulgence of ani- 
mosity, more suitable to the times of barbarism, 
than to an age and nation in which hostility is 
softened by sentiments of generosity, and civili- 
zed policy. History presents many instances of 
the hostile conflagration of palaces, but these ex- 
cesses have seldom failed to be reprobated as 



I: 



AiND GREAT BRITAIN. 145 



acts of unmanly vengeance. Retaliation, it is 
true, has usiially been the pretext for hostilities 
exceeding the prescribed measure; and in the 
present case, the excesses committed by the Ame- 
ricans in their invasion of Canada, have been 
made the apology for the devastations at Wash- 
ington; but it has been seen that ample retribu- 
tion liad already been taken for these enormities, 
and the governor-general had, on the 10th of 
February, in the present year, explicitly decla- 
red, that the measure of retaliation for the mis- 
conduct of the American troops was full and 
compIete.=J^ These reflections fix themselves upon 
the mind with irresistible force; and will be duly 
appreciated by every one who has at heart the 
honour and moral reputation of his country, as 
well as her character for military prowess. 

At the time that admiral Cochrane advanced 
up the Patuxent, captain Gordon, of the Seahorse, 
proceeded with several vessels, up the Potowmac; 
but owing to the difficulty of the navigation, it 
was not till the 27th of August that he reached 
fort Washington. On the evening of the same 
day, tlic bombardment of the place was commen- 
ced, and the effect was so irresistible, that the 
garrison, after spiking their cannon, blew up the 
works, and abandoned the fortress. The small 
commercial town of Alexandria, being now left 
witliout defence, was obliged to capitulate, and the 
municipal authority stipulated for the preservation 

• Letter from sir George Frevost to general Wilkinson. 



146 THE UNITED STATES 

of the place by the surrender of all the stores, 
merchandise, and shipping. This capitulation 
was signed on the 29th, and the whole of the 
captured vessels, being twenty-one in number, 
were brought off, richly freighted with tobacco, 
flour, and cotton, as well as with public stores 

A small expedition against the town of Beilair, 
on the banks of the Chesapeake, undertaken by 
captain sir Peter Parker, of his majesty's ship 
Menelaus, terminated less favourably. On the 
night of the 30th of August, about one hundred 
and twenty men were landed, and marched against 
the enemy, who were found drawn up in line be- 
fore their camp, in the midst of woods, and in 
much greater force than had been anticipated. The 
gallant captain, unintimidated by the superior 
numbers to which he was opposed, did not hesitate 
to commence the attack; but at the moment when 
he was animating his men to the assault, he receiv- 
ed a mortal wound, and liis troops, after forcing 
t!ie enemy to retreat, fell back to the beach, and 
abandoned the enterprise. 

The approach of the autumnal equinox render- 
ing it unsafe for the British fleet to quit the Ches- 
apeake, it was determined by admiral Cochrane, 
and general Ross, to employ the intermediate time 
in an attempt upon the important maritime city of 
Baltimore, which had been thrown into the utmost 
alarm by the fate of the neighbouring capital. The 
admiral accordingly sailed up the bay on the 11th 
of September, and anchored off the mouth of the 
Patapsco river, on the north side of which, round 



AXD GREAT BRITAIN. 147 

a kind of basin, Baltimore is situated. On the 
following day, the troops, to the amount of from 
seven to eig-ht thousand,=^ were debarked at North 
Point, abjiit thirteen miles from the town, the ap- 
proach to which is through a peninsula, formed 
by the Patapsco and Back rivers. Across this 
neck of laud an intrenchnient extended, which the 
Americans were diligently employed in completing; 
but on the approach of the British forces these 
works were precipitately abandoned, and the Ame- 
rican general, Strieker, took up a position at the 
junction of two roads, leading from Baltimore to 
the bay. At this point, the advance of the two ar- 
mies became engaged, and general Ross, "in the 
dangers of the field ever active and foremost, and 
in his devotion to the honour of his country, and 
to the reputation of his troops, unfortunately too 
heedless of liis personal safety, exposed himself to 
the aim of tlie enemy's riflemen, and fell gloriously 
and lamented." Perceiving his wound to be mor- 
tal, he sent for colonel Brooke; to this officer, the 
dying general confided his instructions; and li- 
ving discharged his last duty to his country, he 
breathed out his gallant spirit, exclaiming, affec- 
tionately — <<My dear wife !" 

The British army, now placed under the com- 
mand of colonel Brooke, continued to press for- 
ward, till they arrived within five miles of Balti- 
more, where a corps of about six thousand men, 
under general Strieker, supported by six pieces of 

* General Smith's Despatches. 



148 THE UNITED STATES 

artillery, and augmented by several hundred cav- 
alry, were discovered, posted under cover of a 
wood, drawn up in close order, and lining a strong 
paling, which crossed the main road nearly at 
right angles. The signal being given, the whole 
of the British troops advanced rapidly to the 
charge, and in less than fifteen minutes, the ene- 
my's force, being utterly broken and dispersed, 
fled in every direction over the country, leaving 
on the field two pieces of cannon, with a consider- 
able number of killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
During the night of the 12th, the British army bi 
vouacked on the ground of which the enemy had 
been dispossessed^ and at ten o'clock on the follow- 
ing morning the troops had advanced to a fa 
vourable position, within a mile and a half of the 
city. On reconnoitring the enemy's works, it was 
found that the detached hills, by which Baltimore 
is surrounded, were covered by a chain of pallisa- 
doed redoubts, connected by a small breast work, 
and defended by an army of about fifteen thousand 
men, with a large train of artillery. Notwithstand- 
ing these formidable preparations, colonel Brooke, 
relying upon the description of force under his 
command, determined upon a nocturnal attack, 
and had made his arrangements accordingly, but 
in the course of the evening a communication was 
received from the commander-in-chief of the naval 
forces, by which he was informed, that an attack 
on Fort M'Henry had failed; and that, in conse- 
quence of the entrance to the harbour of Baltimore, 
being closed by vessels sunk for that purpose by 



AND GREAT BRITAIIf. 149 

the enemy, a naval co-operation against the town 
and camp was found impracticable. Under these 
circumstances, it was resolved not to hazard an 
attack upon the heights; and at half past one o'clock 
in the morning of the 15th, the British army com- 
menced its retreat, with perfect order and icgula- 
rity, towards the mouth of the Patapsco. Having 
ascertained, at a late hour in the morning of tlie 
16th, that the enemy had no disposition to quit his 
intrcnchments, the army was moved down to North 
Point, and there re-embarked, along with about 
two liundred prisoners, being persons of the best 
families in Baltimore, without leaving a single 
British soldier behind.-^ The expedition against 
Baltimore, though unsuccessful as to its primary 
and ulterior objects, appears to have been attended 
with considerable success. The victory of the 13th, 
was most honorable to our arms, and was obtained 
at an expense of not more than two hundred and 
ninety men killed and wounded; wliile the enemy, 
though strongly intrenched, had a thousand men 
put hors lie combat,^ He was besides compelled to 
sink upwards of twenty vessels in various parts 
of the harbour; to remove almost the whole of the 
private property out of the town; to concentrate 
his military force from the neiglibouring states; 
and to burn several public buildings, for the pur- 
pose of clearing the glacis in front of the redoubts. =* 
The American commander, however, took a very 
different view of the result of this enterprise. Ac^ 

* Colonel Brooke's Despatches, dated on board theTonnant, 
in the" Chesapeake, September 17, 181 -A. 

N 



150 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

cording to his statement, made to the secretary at 
war, the loss of the Americans, in killed and 
wounded, on the 13th, did not exceed one hundred 
and fifty men; among the former of whom was 
James Lowry Donaldson, Esq. a representative in 
the state legislature; while, on the same authority, 
the loss of the British is estimated, «as near as 
could be ascertained," at between six and seven 
hundred, including the commander-in-chief.^ 

* General Smith's Despatches, dated Baltimore, September 
19, 18U. 



■'oiMA^^sm 2siia< 



An expedition to the Penobscot, under lieutenant- 
general sir J. C. Slierbrooke, and rear-admiral 
Gi'iffith, undertaken in the month of August, was 
attended with complete success. The Britisli 
troops, after obliging the Americans to destroy 
t!ie John Adams frigate, which had taken refuge 
in the river at Hamden, took permanent possession 
of the northern part of the district of Maine, in 
the name of his Britannic majesty, and opened a 
direct communication between Canada and New 
Brunswick. 

It has already been observed, that the species of 
warfare announced by admiial Cochrane on the 
18th of August, and the devastations made on the 
capital, and on the coast, of the United States, 
produced a deep sensation in America; and on the 
1st of September, a proclamation was issued by 
the president, exhorting the people to unite their 
hearts and hands to give effect to the ample means 
they possessed, to cliastise and expel the invaders. 
On the 20th of the same month, the representatives 
of the American people assembled in congress, 
when the same subject was resumed, and dilated 
upon in the presidential message: — 

The result of the negotiations at Ghent, it was 
said, could not be yet known; and if, on the one 
hand, the repeal of the orders in council^ and the 



152 THE UNITED STATES 

general pacification of Europe, which witlidrew 
the occasion on which impressments from Ameri- 
can vessels were practised, suggested the expecta- 
tion that peace and amity might he re-established^ 
yet on the other, the refusal of the British govern- 
ment to accept the offered mediation of the empe- 
I'or of Russia; the delays in giving effect to her 
own proposal for a direct negotiation; and above 
all, the principles and manner in which the war 
was now r.vowcdiy carried on, led to the inference, 
that a spirit of hostility was indulged, more vio- 
lent than ever, against the rights and prosperity 
of the United States. This increased violence was 
best explained by two important circumstances: in 
the first place, the great contest in Europe had 
terminated without any check being given to the 
overbearing j)ower of Great Britain on the ocean; 
and in the second, immense armaments were now 
at her disposal, with which, with the example of a 
great victim before her eyes, she cherished the 
hope of still further aggrandizing a power already 
formidable in its abuses to the tranquillity of the 
(ivilized and commercial world. But whatever 
might inspire the enemy of the United States with 
these more violent purposes, the public councils of 
a nation, more able to maintain than it was to ac- 
quire its independence, could never deliberate but 
on the most effectual means for defeating the ex- 
travagant vicVtS or unwarrantable passions with 
which alone the war could now be pursued against 
her. Adverting to the events of the present cam- 
paign, Mr. Madison says, «thc enemy, with all his 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 153 

augmented means and wanton use of them, has 
little ground for exultation; unless he can feel it 
in the success of his recent enterprize against this 
metropolis, and the neighhouring town of Alexan- 
dria; from both of which his retreats were as pre- 
cipitate as his attempts were bold and fortunate. — 
In his other incursions on our Atlantic frontier, his 
progress, often checked and chastised by the mar- 
tial spirit of tlie neighbouring citizens, has had 
more effect in distressing individuals, and in dis- 
honouring his arms, than in promoting any object 
of legitimate warfare. And in the two instances 
mentioned, however deeply to be regretted on our 
part, in his transient success, which interrupted 
for a moment only tlie ordinary public business at 
the seat of government, no compensation can ac- 
crue for the loss of character with the world, by 
this violation of private property, and by this des- 
truction of public edifices, protected as monuments 
of the arts by the laws of civilized warfare." The 
president then proceeds to take a retrospect of the 
events of the campaign naval and military; and 
passing from that topic to the financial affairs of 
the republic, states, that the money received into 
the treasury during the nine months, ending on the 
15th of June, 1814, amounted to thirty -two mil- 
lions of dollars, of which eleven millions were the 
proceeds of the public revenue, and the remainder 
derived from loans. The disbursements for pub- 
lic expenditures during the same period, exceeded 
thirty-four millions of dollars, and left in the trea» 

N 2 



154 TUB UNITED STATES 

sury on the 1st of July, nearly five millions. The ne- 
cessity of providing for the wants of the state, both 
in men and money, is next brought under consid- 
eration, and the message concludes with the fre- 
quently repeated declaration, that America was 
forced into the war by the violence and injustice of 
her enemy, and that she still retains an undimin- 
ished disposition towards peace on honourable 
terms. 

That part of the president's message which re- 
lates to finances, was referred to a committee of 
ways and means, who made their report in the 
course of the same month. In this report, it was 
stated, that the resources for carrying on the war, 
must consist in taxes, loans, and treasury notes. — 
The first, it was said, could not be collected in 
time to meet the immediate exigencies of the state. 
As to loans, they could only be obtained on exor- 
bitant terms. The treasury notes therefore, must 
be had recourse to; and from this source, a con- 
siderable sum might be raised, and a general cir- 
culating medium created for evtry part of the 
union. With regard to new taxes, the committee 
remarked, that several manufactures, which had 
grown up in the United States in consequence of 
the war having shut them out from foreign mar- 
kets, were in such a flourishing condition, that 
they would bear to be taxed; and the amount of 
the proposed increase on the existing taxes, and of 
the new duties, was estimated at eleven millions 
six hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars; while 
the whole revenue, under the old system, was only 



AND GREAT BUITAlxV. 155 

ten millions eight hundred thousand^ thus, at one 
stej), more than douhling tlie taxation. 

Next to tlic financial arrangements, tlie atten- 
tion of the American government was directed to 
the army; and a hill, formed under the direction of 
a military committee, and grounded on the sugges- 
tions of the secretary at war, was hrought into 
congress, to provide for filling the ranks of the 
army. The ohject of this measure, was to pre- 
serve and render complete the present military es- 
tablishment of the country, amounting to sixty-two 
thousand four hundred and forty-eight men; and 
to create an additional permanent force of, at least, 
forty thousand, to be raised for the defence of the 
cities and frontiers, under an engagement tliat such 
corps should be employed within certain specific 
limits. It was further j)roposed, that the whole of 
the white male population of the United States, be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five, should 
be distributed into classes of twenty-five each; 
every class to furnish one able bodied man, to serve 
during the war; that assessors should determine 
the territorial precincts of each class, so that the 
property in each division should be as nearly equal 
as possible; that in case of failure, a penalty should 
be levied on each class, to be paid among them in 
proportion to the property of each individual; and 
that every five male inhabitants, liable to military 
duty, who should join to furnish one soldier during 
the war, should be exempt from service. 

This bill was discussed in the United States 
with great freedom; and the adversaries of the 



156 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

measure had no difficulty in discovering, in its pro- 
visions, a rapid approximation towards the French 
code of conscription. But events were taking 
place at Ghent, which rendered it highly prohable 
that there would be no necessity for carrying into 
effect its more obnoxious regulations. 



©MA^a^im 3SIT. 



During the progress of the negotiations at Ghent; 
the hostile operations of the hcUigerents extended 
to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. On the 15th 
of Septeniher, fort Bowyer, at the eastern entrance 
of the hay of Mobile, was attacked by a British 
naval and military force, under the command of 
commodore tlie honorable captain William Henry 
Percy, and colonel Nicholls; but the resistance 
made by major William Lawrence, the commander 
of th'i fort, was so determined and successful, that 
the assailants were obliged to withdraw, with the 
loss of the British commodore's ship, the Hermes; 
which took fire and exploded. 

In the months of December and January, a se- 
ries of operations, important from their magnitude, 
and disastrous in their result, took place in the 
neighbourhood of New Orleans, the capital of Louis- 
iana. When the winter season had closed the 
movements of the armies in the northern regions 
of the United States, a strong military force, com- 
manded by major-general Keane, was despatched 
to the south, on board of tlie fleet under vice- 
admiral the honourable sir Alexander Cochrane. 
On the arrival of this armament in the vicinity of 
Lac Borogne, it was found necessary to attack the 
enemy's flottilla on that lake; and this service was 
performed with so much skill and bravery by cap- 



158 THE UNITED STATES 

tain Lockyer, that, on the 12th of December, all 
the American vessels were, after a spirited engage- 
ment, either taken or destroyed. This impor- 
tant operation had removed the only obstacle to 
the debarkation of the troops, and, on the morning 
of the 23d, the army landed at the head of Lac Bo- 
rogne, with no other opposition than that presented 
by the rugged and swampy nature of the shore. 
The arrival of the British army was no sooner 
made known to general Jackson, the American com- 
mander in Louisiana, than, placing himself at the 
head of the 7th and 44th regiments, with a body of 
the New Orleans and Tennessee militia, he advan- 
ced to meet the invaders. At eight o'clock in the 
evening, a heavy flanking fire was opened upon co- 
lonel Thornton's brigade; but the temerity of the 
American general was speedily checked by the use 
of the bayonet,* and, in the morning of the following 
day, he retreated to a position about two miles 
nearer the city. On the 25th, major-general the 
Hon. sir Edward Pakenham, accompanied by 
major-general Gibbs, arrived and took the com- 
mand of the army. On the morning of the 27th, 
the troops moved forward in two columns, and drove 
in the enemy's picquets, to a situation within three 
miles of tlie town, where their main body was dis- 
covered strongly posted behind a canal, with a 
breast work in front, extending from the Cypress 
Swamp to the banks of the Mississippi, their right 
resting on tlie river, and their left touching the 
wood. On the 1st of January, 1815, major-gene- 
ral sir John Lambert, in the Yengeur, with a 



AND GREAT BRlTAl]?f. 159 

convoy of transports, reached the outer anchorage 
of the lake; and, five days afterwards, his reinforce- 
ments were brought up to the advance of the Eng- 
lish position. The whole of the 7th was occupied 
in active preparations for the aproacliing battle. 
Before day-light on the 8th, the British army was 
formed for a general assault upon the enemy's lines, 
to be preceded by an attempt, with a detached 
force, under colonel Thornton, to cross the Mis- 
sisippi, and to carry tlie flanking battery erected 
by the enemy on the riglit side of that river; but 
various unforesceii difficulties retarded the execu- 
tion of this part of the plan, till the co-operation 
had lost its effect. Tlie morning was ushered in 
by a shower of bombs and Congreve rockets, the 
army advancing at the same time to storm the right 
and left of the enemy's intrenchments. Sir Edward 
Pakcnham, tlie commander of the forces, «who," 
says general Lambert, "never in ]»is life could re- 
frain from being at tlie post of honour, and sharing 
the danger to which tlie troops were exposed, as 
soon as from his statif)n lie liad made the signal 
for the troops to advance, galloped on to the front 
to animate them by his presence, and was seen 
with his hat off, encouraging tliem to the crest of 
tlie glacis. It was there, almost at the same time, 
he received two wounds, one in the knee, and ano- 
tlier, which was almost instantly fatal, in the body. 
He fell in the arms of major M*Dougell, his aid- 
de-camp, and breathed his last. The fall of their 
commander, in the sight of the troops, together 
with major-general Gibbs and major-general Keane 



160 THE tJJ^ITED STATES 

being both borne off wounded at the same time, 
with many other commanding officers; and further, 
the preparations to aid in crossing the ditch not 
being so forward as they ought to have been; cau- 
sed a wavering in the column, which, in such a 
situation, became irreparable; <<and as I advanced 
with the reserve," adds general Lambert, "at about 
two hundred and fifty yards from the line, I had 
the mortification to observe the whole falling back 
upon me in the greatest confusion," The repulse 
was so decisive, that every attempt to restore order 
in the ranks proved ineffectual, and after some de- 
liberation it was judged proper to draw off the 
troops, and to abandon the attack. Simultaneously 
with this advance upon general Jackson's lines, was 
the attempt made by colonel Thornton to carry the 
flanking battery of the enemy, the defence of which 
had been confided to general Morgan. At first, 
the Americans, confident in their own security, 
shewed a good countenance, and kept up a heavy 
fire; but the determination of the British troops, 
at this point, overcame all difficulties; and tlie 
Kentucky levies ingloriously fled, drawing after 
them by their example the remainder of the forces, 
and leaving the redoubts, and batteries, with six- 
teen pieces of ordnance, and the colours of the 
New Orleans regiment, in the possession of colo- 
nel Thornton. On learning the success of this di- 
vision of the army, general Lambert despatched 
colonel Dickson, an artillery officer, over the river, 
to examine whether the post was tenable; but find- 
ing, from the report of the colonel, that it could 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 161 

not be held with security by a smaller force than 
two thousand men, he ordered the troops to retire, 
and join the main army. 

The battle of New Orleans was distinguished 
by several striking characteristics. The troops 
engaged on each side maybe estimated, at a mode- 
rate computation, at ten thousand^ and since the 
breaking out of the war, no engagement had per- 
haps been fought with so much bravery, and none 
certainly with so disastrous a result. The loss of 
the British, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
amounted to two thousand and forty, including in 
that number the commander-in-chief, and two other 
general officers, one of whom, general Gibbs, only 
survived his wounds till the following day. The 
loss of the enemy, according to the official state- 
ment of their general, was incredibly small, and 
did not exceed six killed, and seven wounded, ex- 
clusive of the casualties on the right bank of the 
river, and by the addition of which the whole 
number was only swelled to seventy-one! =^ (^9). 

This heavy loss on the part of the Brithsh army 
extinguished all hopes of success, and general 
Lambert, after holding a consultation with admi- 
ral Cochrane, came to the decision to re-embark 
the troops, and to abandon the enterprise. 

The concluding operation of the war in the Gulpli 
of Mexico was the capture oT fort Bowyer on Mo- 
bile Point. On the 7th of February the fort was 
invested by captain Ricketts, of the Vengeur, and 

* Despatches from the American adjutant-general to the Se 
cretary at War dated New Orleans. Jan. 16, 1815. 

o 



162 THE UNITED STATES, &C. 

in the course of a few days the trenches were 
pushed within pistol-shot of the works. Lieutenant- 
colonel Lawrence, the American commander, find- 
ing it impossible much longer to resist the over- 
whelming force by which he was assailed, consen- 
ted to capitulate, and on the 11th, the garrison, 
consisting of three hundred and sixty-six men, 
surrendered themselves prisoners of war. 

The last naval engagement during the war added 
the President frigate, under the command of com- 
modore Decatur, to the British navy. On the 15th 
of January, a squadron, consisting of the Majestic, 
captain Hayes; the Tenedos, captain Hyde Parker; 
the Endymion, captain Hope; and the Pomone, 
captain Lumley; while stationed off the Sandy 
Hook, for the purpose of blockading the port of 
New York, discovered the President quitting the 
harbour, and commenced a general chase. After 
an anxious pursuit, continued for eighteen hours, 
the Endymion frigate placed herself alongside the 
ei^femy, and a warm action ensued, which was 
maintained with great bravery on both sides for 
two hours and a half, and which, on the arrival 
of the Pomone, issued in the surrender of the Ame- 
rican frigate. 



©MAtfMB S£T* 



Before the events which have just passed iiiulor 
review took place, the labors of tlie plenipotentia- 
ries, assembled at Ghent, were brought to a close; 
and the sanguinary operations on the shores of the 
Mexican Gulph, like the last naval engagement off 
the American coast, may be ranked among the 
posthumous offspring of an unnatural contest be- 
tween two countj'ies, whose true interest it is, at all 
times, to cherish the relations of peace, and to ad- 
minister to each other's prosperity by a free inter- 
change of commercial communication. 

On the '8th of August, the day on wliich the 
plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and the United 
States held their first conference at Ghent, tlie 
English ministers submitted to the An^erican com- 
missioners the following proyVi; ex])]anatory of the 
subjects to be brought under discussion:— -=^' 

1. The forcible seizure of mariners on board of 
merchant vessels, and, in connection with it, the 
claims of his Britannic majesty to the allegiance of 
all his native subjects. 

2. The Indian allies of Gi-eat Britain to be in- 
cluded in the pacification, and a definite boundary 
to be settled for their territoi-y. 

• Draft of the original rrolocol, made by the Americun minis- 
ters at the two first conferences held with the B)-itish commis- 
sionei's. 



164 THE INITED STATES 

The British commissioners stated that an ar- 
rangement upon this point was a sine qua non, 

5, A revision of tlie boundary line between the 
United States and tlie adjacent British colonies. 

With respect to this point, the British commis- 
sioners disclaimed any intention on thepart of their 
government to acquire any increase of territory. 

4. The fisheries; respecting which the British 
government will not allow the people of the United 
States the privilege of landing and drying fish, with- 
in the territorial jurisdiction of Great Britain, 
without an equivalent. 

The American ministers, at the second meeting, 
which was held the following day, stated, that upon 
the first and third points proposed by the British 
commissioners, they were prepared with no instruc- 
tions from their government,* but that on the second 
fourth of these points, there not having existed 
hitherto any difference between the two govern- 
ments, they had not been anticipated by the United 
States, and were therefore not provided for in their 
instructions. That in relation to an Indian pacifi- 
cation, they knew that the government of the Uni- 
ted States had appointed commissioners to treat for 
peace with the Indians, and that it was not impro- 
bable that peace had already been made with them. 
At the same time, the American commissioners 
presented, as further subjects, considered by the 
government of the United States as suitable for 
discussion, the following: — 

1. A definition of blockade, and, as far as may 
be agreed, of other neutral and belligerent rights. 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 165 

2. Certain claims of indemnity to individuals, 
for captures and seizures preceding and subsequent 
to the war. 

3. Tliey further stated, that there were various 
other points to which their instructions extend, 
whicli might with propriety be the subjects of dis- 
cussion, either in the negotiation of the peace, or 
in that of a treaty of commerce^ which, in case of 
a propitious termination of the conferences, they 
were likewise authorized to conclude. That for the 
purpose of facilitating the first and most essential 
object of peace, they had discarded every subject 
which was not considered as peculiarly connected 
with that, and presented only those points which 
appeared to be immediately relevant to the negotia- 
tion. 

At a subsequent meeting, held on the 10th, the 
British commissioners endeavored to impress the 
American ministers with the propriety of giving up 
certain places, ceded to the United States by the 
memorable treaty of 1783, for the purpose of ren- 
dering the limits of Canada more precise and se- 
cure; but upon this point the Americans were im- 
moveable. 

Tlic most important, as well as the most difficult 
subjects in dispute between the two countries were, 
nndoubtedly, those relating to the impressment of 
seamen from x\merican ships, and the limits of 
blockade. The peace in Europe had, however, re- 
duced these questions to mere abstract principles, 
regarding the future rather than the present; and 
both parties, aware of the difficulty, agreed to wave 



166 THE UNITED STATES 

discussions upon which it seemed impossible to ar- 
rive at any amicable conclusion. The other sub- 
jects of importance were the admission of'the Indians 
to the treaty, and the establishment of a new Cana- 
dian frontier. On the former of these points it was 
agreed, that the Indian allies of both parties should 
be left in the same situation in which they were 
found in 1812^ and on the latter, that any ambigui- 
ty regarding the territorial limits between Canada 
and the United States should be removed by com- 
missioners appointed on both sides for that purpose, 
but that the line of demarkation, as drawn by the 
treaty of 1783, should form the standard of their 
decisions. 

This amicable termination of the xlifferences be- 
tween the two countries, which took place by the 
signature of the treaty of peace at Ghent, on the 24th 
of December, 1814, was probably, in some measure, 
owing, on the side of Great Britain, to the want of 
success which had attended her armies, even after 
reinforcements had been sent out from the peninsu- 
la; to the enormous expense of sending troops to 
Canada, and keeping them there; to the critical 
state of the public finance; and to the apprehension, 
that if the war were not speedily terminated, some 
of the European powers might make common cause 
with America on the point of maritime rights. On 
the side of the United States, the government was 
disposed to peace from the deranged situation of 
their commerce; from tlie alarming augmentation 
of their national expenditure, and tlie consequent 
embarrassment of their finances; from the imper- 



AND GREAT BRITAIN. 167 

feet organization of their military system; and 
above all, from the devastations to which their coasts 
and frontiers had become exposed. 

In both countries the termination of the war was 
hailed with unfeigned satisfaction; but the force of 
this feeling was considerably diminished by the re- 
flection that all tlie blood and treasure expended in 
the prosecution of tlic contest had been lavished in 
vain, and that the questions in dispute remained al- 
together unadjusted. 



^^^^MBISS. 



(No. 1.) 



JJEjVnrs DISCLOSURES. 

JL HE author here has fallen into a great error. 
Henry returned into Canada, and afterwards pro- 
ceeded to London, and there preferred a claim on 
the British government for compensation of his 
services, which he proposed to cancel for an ap- 
pointment, ^Yith a suitable emolument, cither in 
Canada or the United States; intimating that he 
would accept the place of judge advocate general 
in the British provinces, or a sinecure consulship 
in the United States, with a salary annexed. Hav- 
ing heen duped and disappointed by the British 
ministry, he voluntarily repaired to the city of 
Washington, and by letter to the Secretary of 
State, Mr. Monroe, proffered to disclose his ser- 
vices to, and connection with the British govern- 
ment. He was paid the sum demanded;=^ and made 
a communication, accompanied with documonts, 
which amply shewed that Henry had been engaged 

* Fifty thousand dollars. 



ii APPENDIX. 

as a spy, and the fomentor of discord among the 
American people. The British ministry have not 
been able to deny the employment of Henry, and 
have justly incurred, at home and abroad, all the 
odium of the transaction. 

(No. 2.) 
MR. PEECEVJJJS AGE.^rCY LV THE WAR. 

The decease of the minister, the Right Honour- 
able Spencer Perceval, is mentioned here, not su- 
perfluously, according to the author's views of the 
bearing of his measures and disposition on the re- 
lations of the two countries. In a biographical 
sketch of the deceased minister, by Mr. Baines, 
our author, there are the following remarks: — 

«The decision of his mind sometimes assumed the 
character of obstinacy; and he seemed to have imbi- 
bed a principle which a prime minister should never 
admit into his thoughts, that a measure once openly 
avowed f ought, on no account, ever to be abandoned. 
To his unyielding temper, the xlmerican war, in 
which the country was plunged soon after his death, 
has been imputed." 

No one can doubt, for a moment, that had the 
ministry, then led by Perceval, yielded their opin- 
ions to the universal clamour of tlie mercantile 
community against the orders in council, seconded 
with uncommon eloquence and zeal by Mr. Broug- 
ham in the British Parliament, and repealed them 
even one month earlier, the war would not have 
been declared by the American government. Hence 



APPENDIX. iil 

our author has, with reason, laid some stress upon 
the incident of Mr. Perceval's death. 

(No. 3.) 

MOTIVES OF THE WAR PARTY IJST THE SOUTH. 

The author has here, erroneously, attributed un- 
worthy motives to the advocates and supporters of 
the war in the southern states. In that section of 
the United States, the people were governed in their 
sentiments and conduct by a love of their own coun- 
try, indignation for the multifarious wrongs in- 
flicted on it by the government of Great Britain, 
and a spirited determination, by all lawful and 
honourable means, to punish the aggressor, and re- 
dress their injuries. Few of the American priva- 
teers were owned or fitted out in the southern 
ports. They generally belonged to the middle 
and eastern states. And if the liistorian had been 
scrupulously faithful to the truth, he would have re- 
corded the fact, that the American privateers dur- 
ing the war, with few exceptions, were far more 
animated by the spirit of the regular navy, than 
by the sordid motives of buccaneers; seeking the 
glory of victory, by honourable battle, aver the 
enemies of their country. Many instances occurred 
of the gallant privateers passing, without notice, 
the merchantmen, and pursuing to the most despe- 
rate results British armed vessels. 

(No. 4.) 

BALTIMORE MOlf. 

Tlie respectable historian has here adopted the 
exparte representation of the Federal Republican. 



[y APPENDIX. 

It is true, this outrage was "regarded with iiidigna- 
tion in every other part of the United States," but 
not more so than in the city of Baltimore. And it 
ought to be understood, that the indignation of all 
sober-minded men was not confined to the murder- 
ers of Lingan, but was justly extended to the con- 
duct of those, who, it is believed, deliberately plan- 
ned, from motives of personal and political aggran- 
dizement, the wanton excitement of the mob. The 
partial representations of tbis affair have brought 
upon the cily a load of unmerited calumny; but 
^\ hile we unequivocally condemn ail disorderly and 
riotous assemblies, we feel authorized in asserting 
that no city in the United States has a more sober 
and orderly population than Baltimore. 

(No. 5.) 

SUBJECTS OF THE UJ^ITED STATES. 

It is not a little amusing to see, even in the libe- 
ral a\id vigorous composition of Mr. Baines, the 
phraseology of a monarchist. Who, we wo.uld ask 
him, are the suhjects of the United States? The 
people of the United States avQ. fdloxv 'Citizens, not 
subjects of any prince or potentate. 

(No. 6.) 

HULUS SURRE.YDER. 

The historian here is inaccurate in his geography 
and facts. Maiden is not on the Canard, nor did 
general Hull advance at all against that post. He 
halted at Sandwich, and sent out exploring parties 
on several days, one of which encountered a Bri- 



APPENDIX. V 

tlsli party at the bi-idge on tlic Canard; but tlie ar- 
my nevei* attemntcd to cross it. The historian, as 
may he scon, proceeds with a very well drawn pic- 
ture of general Hull's military catastrophe, but con- 
cludes with this strange solecism: — **By this cap- 
itulation, so glorious to the arms of Great Britain, 
but so disgraceful to the American army, not less 
than two thousand five hundred men became prison- 
ers, &c," We leave it to British philologists to 
reconcile this phraseology, and to divine the mea- 
sure of glory won by the conqueror in a bloodless 
victory, when the vanquished are disgraced. This 
forcibly brings to recollection a specimen of the 
profoundest bathos wc ever met in military story. 
In a British panegyrick on general Ross and his 
army, for defeating the Americans at Bladensburgh, 
and capturing the city of Washington, the enco- 
miast, straining his eulogium to the highest key, 
says, "On our forces taking the field, the president, 
with his cabinet, and the whole American army ran 
away like a flock of terrified sheep!" The reader, 
to acquire a full view of the glory of the achievement, 
according to this metaphor, has only to imagine the 
British army, commanded by general Ross, enter- 
ing the field on the one side, while on the other a 
flock of frightened sheep arc escaping at full speed. 
We would recommend the attention of the histori- 
an to the result of the court-martial on general Hull, 
for a true estimate of the glory acquired by the Bri- 
tish army in the capture of Detroit. He was found 
guilty of neglect of duty, unofficer-like conduct, and 

A2 



vi APPENDIX. 

cowardice, the true sources of all the glory acquiret! 
on the occasion by the British arms. 

(No. r.) 

We apprehend the author, to he intelligible^ 
should have written ordered for '^senV^ 

(No. 8.) 

BATTLE OF QUEEJYSTOWJW 

This, on the whole, is a most extravagant and 
absurd statement. General Wadswortli's force has 
just been computed at nine hundred; by tlic killing, 
wounding, deserting ami surrendering of whom, the 
Americans are made to sustain a loss of two thousand!. 
The truth is, that not more than one thousand Ameri- 
cans crossed during the day; about four hundred of 
whom were militia and volunteers, who were parol- 
ed on the field, and permitted to return immediately 
to tlie United States. Besides there were mutual 
exchanges of prisoners, which further reduced the 
loss oS the Americans. Of killed, wounded, and 
prisoners retained, we suppose, from an impartial 
examination of all the accounts, the American loss 
!vas about six hundred. 

(No. 9.) 

CAPTURE OF THE GUERRIERE. 

The historian, in giving what may be said to be 
a pretty fair statement for an Englishman, does 
every thing in his power to sooth the mortification 
of John BulL Hence he says; «The battle had now 



APPENDIX. >ii 

raged for nearly two hours.'* Captain Hull, in 
his very modest account of the affair, says by let- 
ter to the Secretary of the Xavy,* ^vifter informing 
that so fine a ship as the Guerricie, commanded by 
an able and experienced officer, had been totally 
dismasted and otherwise cut to pieces, so as to make 
her not worth towing into port, in the short space 
of thirty minutes, you can have no doubt of the gal- 
lantry and good conduct of the ofncers and ship's 
company I have the honour to command." 

(No. 10.) 
tiujyks op co.vgress. 
The historian is in error when he states that the 
congress of the United States, like city corpora- 
tions and the legislatures of New York and Massa- 
chusetts, voted **thanks^' to the captain, officers, 
and crew of the Constitution. Compliments of 
high character were voted by congress, as well as 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars in lieu of prize mo- 
ney. The thanks of congress were first during the 
war voted to commodore Perry, and afterwards to 
commodore M<Donough, their officers and crewSi, 
on the occurrence of their glorious victories; but, as 
far as memory serves at present, to no other naval 
commander for a naval victory. Commodore Pat- 
terson, and the officers and men under him, receiv- 
ed the thanks of congress for their auxiliary ser- 
vices in the defence of New- Orleans* 

(No. 11.) 
TffAJ^KS OF COJ\rGIiESS JGJrm 
The historian commits a similar error with that 
above stated, in saying that the thanks of congress 



viii ArPENT)iX. 

were voted to captain Jones, kc. See the resolu- 
tions of congress, vvbicli, as in the case of captain 
Hull, express the higii sense entertained of the 
gallantry, good conduct, kc. of thecominander, his 
officers and crew, with the presentation of medals, 
swords, kc. 

(Xo. 12.) 
MASSACJiE AT THE RAJ SLY, 

The historian, to save the honour of the British 
name, has chosen to suppress tije sequel of this af- 
fair; but it is due to posterity, that tlie tale should 
be fully told, wherever the British arms claim a 
victory in the battle of the Raisin. The whole ac- 
count here given is defective. The right wing of 
tiie Americans, wliich is represented to have been 
driven across the river, after a contest ofanuartcr 
of an hour, and there cut off by a large body of In- 
dians stationed in the rear, was so unfortunate as to 
receive without any slielter the violence of the first 
attack; and, in attempting to change its line, was 
thrown into confusion, and could never again be 
formed. In this deplorable state it was overwhelm- 
ed by the fury of the savage storm. Those who 
betook themselves to flight across the river, were 
pursued, overtaken, and generally massacred by the 
Indians. The left wing of the Americans, covered 
by a light picket, kept up a successful defence, un- 
til the general, who, as has been stated, was cap- 
tured in the disaster of the right wing, deeming 
their circumstances desperate, agreed to surrender 
them on condition of being protected from the sav- 



APPENDIX. ix 

a.^es, allowed to retain private property, and having 
their side arms returned. How faithfully the Brit- 
ish commander observed the terms of capitulation, 
the result will testify. Scarcely had the surrender 
taken place, before the Indians commenced a course 
of violence and barbarity on tlie prisoners, especi- 
ally tlie wounded. Against this conduct the Amer- 
ican general remonstrating, insisted on the perfor- 
mance of the conditions, which had placed the pris- 
oners in the power of their enemies. The pledge 
of protection was reiterated, and the British com- 
mander promised that the wounded should be re- 
moved to a place of security and comfort on the fol- 
lowing day. Notwithstanding this engagement, he 
marched off for Maiden; taking with him the able 
bodied prisoners, and leaving the wounded at the 
mercy of his savage allies! They were soon strip- 
ped, murdered, and cast naked over the snow for the 
food of beasts. Captain Hart, brother-in-law of 
senator Brown and speaker Clay in congress, hav- 
ing received a wound in the knee, had the supposed 
good fortune to meet in captain Elliot, a British offi- 
cer, an old acquaintance and class-mate at Prince- 
ton, from whom he received a promise of protection, 
and conveyance the next day to the comfort and hos- 
pitality of his own quarters at Maiden. This mon- 
ster, leaving captain Hart in all the consolations of 
his engagements, abandoned him to a cruel fate. 
Suffering the most offensive barbarities at the hands 
of the Indians, he at length bargained with one of 
them to carry him to Maiden, paying him the price 
stipulated. Re set off with his guide on horseback: 



X APPENDIX. 

but before they Iiad gone^ five miles, the captain 
was beset by a fresh band of savages, who shot, 
tomahawked, and scalped him. In addition to these 
flagrant outrages, the officers and men, conduct- 
ed to Maiden under the immediate eye of the Bri- 
tish commander, were robbed of their money and 
clothing; and their arms given to the Indians. 
Could it be credited, that the British authorities, 
with the full knowledge of these enormities, did 
compliment Proctor, promoting him to tlic rank 
of brigadier general for his services on this oc- 
casion; acknowledging in the same general or- 
ders, the essential services, bravery, and good con- 
duct of the Indian chief Round Head, with his band 
of warriors!!! These are the distinctive features 
of the honours which accrued to the British arms 
in the battle of the Raisin, which the historian has 
suppressed; but that the affair might redound great- 
ly to the glory of general Proctor, the number of 
the Indian allies are stated at six hundred; the fact 
being notorious, on tlie authority of the late gov- 
ernor Madison and other respectable citizens who 
were present, that in the course of the day the In- 
dians appeared in French Town to the number of 
two thousand at least. 

(No. 13.) 

CAPTURE OF OGDEJSrS BURGH. 

The affair of Ogdensburg!», recorded here with 
so much parade of detail, was in the United States 
never deemed of sufficient consequence to be com- 
municated publicly from the war-department, al- 



APPEXDIX. Xi 

though it seems to have commanded not only tlie 
compliments, in general orders, of Sir George Pro- 
vost, the governor of tlie British provinces, hut 
the particular attention of the British historian. A 
small garrison of riflemen, not exceeding two hun- 
dred and fifty, under the command of the memora- 
ble and much lamented captain Forsyth, had been 
kept up at Ogdensburgh.. A British force, in two 
columns of five or six hundred each, attacked the 
place in the morning. A good defence was made by 
captain Forsyth, but the superior numbers of the 
enemy forced liim out of the town, with the loss of 
twenty men killed and wounded. The barracks 
were burnt; and the public stores, trifling in amount, 
carried off*. The cannon, stated to be captured, 
W'Cre not in service. According to the British offi- 
cial report, they had seven killed and forty-eiglit 
wounded. The capture of four officers and seventy 
privates, by tlie enemy, has not the shadow of truth. 

(No. 14.) 

CAPTURE OF YORK. 
As to the explosion of the magazine, which kill- 
ed general Pike and so many of the Americans, 
there is a complete issue between the American and 
British reports. In the United States, the opinion 
of general Dearborn, that it was premeditated by 
the enemy, seems generally to have been received, 
while in the British accounts, it has been uniformly 
attributed to accident. For ourselves we have 
never been able satisfactorily to decide the question; 
and we must admit that all which appears from the 



Xii APPENDIX. 

recital of general Dearborn, leaves the conclusion 
rather against his own opinion. It appears that 
forty of the enemy were killed by the explosion; a 
pretty strong argument, that they had not premed- 
itated the horrible catastrophe. Nevertheless, if it 
were clearly established that general SheafFe was 
wholly innocent of design in the matter; there was 
not wanting in York, the capital of Upper Canada, 
proof of the demi-savage character of Britons, in 
their hostilities to the people of the United States. 
General Dsarborn found in the Parliament House 
a humim scalp, suspended near the speaker's chair, 
in company with tiieraace. What could have been 
intended by this horrible symbol, we are wholly at 
a loss to imagine, without recurring to the repeated 
instances in which the British commanders permit- 
ted, in their presence, the wounded and dead Amer- 
icans to be scalped and otherwise shockingly muti- 
lated. With such proofs of their participation in 
acts of this kind, as the events of the war furnish- 
ed, there cannot be a doubt left, that the British 
officers and troops adopted the savage custom of 
reckoning the scalp of their enemy a tropliy; and, 
as an emblem of victory, was suspended the scalp 
found near the speaker's chair, in the Parliament 
House at York. 

(No. 15.) 

E J\ 1 C UA TIO.Y OF FORT GE OR GE. 

This declaration is in the teeth of several subse- 
quent statements of Mr. Baines, in the course of his 
narrative; and it is well known that the Ameri- 



APPENDIX. xiii 

cans (lid not abandon Fort George until sometime 
after j^eneral Wilkinson set out on his famous ex- 
pedition against Montreal. The place was finally 
abandoned on the 10th of December, 1813, by gen- 
eral M<Clure, of the New York Militia, to whom 
it had been committed; and at whose departure, 
Newark, a village adjacent was nearly all consign- 
ed to flames. 

(Xo. 16.) 

BATTLE OF STO.YEY CREEK. 
Of all the accounts published of the battle of Sto- 
ney Creek, no two agree; but of all we have seen, 
this is the most laconic, and the most arrogant on 
the British side. That general Vincent, in making 
a night attack, did for a time produce great con- 
fusion in the American camp is true; and that the 
strange incidents of the scene pui the American 
generals, with other officers, and troops, into the 
possession of the enemy cannot be denied; but it is 
not true that the Americans were driven from their 
camp. A force of five hundred was counted and at 
day light reported by captain Francis D. Cummins, 
then adjutant of the 16th U. S. Infantry, to Col. 
Milton the senior officer present. This force had 
occupied the field without intermission the whole 
niglit. And in addition to the possession of the field, 
the Americans retained one hundred and fifty-four 
prisoners. About eight o'clock, A. M. the enemy 
sent into the American lines a flag of truce, re- 
questing permission to bury their dead, and asking 
information of general Vincent, who was supposed 
B 



Xiv APPENDIX. 

to have been killed or captured. His horse was 
found killed; and Col. Milton had the good fortune 
to capture his saddle, housing, &c. It appeared in 
the end, that the British general had been in as 
great a dilemma as his opposing generals; except 
that he was not finally held a prisoner. He lost 
his horse, sword, saddle, housing and chaj)eau-de- 
bras; and was found himself in an insensible state, 
lying on the ground, in the woods, a short distance 
from the American camp. 

(No. 17.) 

REPULSE OF THE EJVEMY AT FORT MEIGS. 

In detailing the events of this day, the historian 
has entirely omitted to notice the very spirited sal- 
lies from fort Meigs, upon the Indian and British 
batteries on the south-west side of the river, simul- 
taneously with the attack on the north-west side. 
Detachments of the regular infantry, volunteers 
and militia, in all about three hundred and fifty, 
conducted by lieutenant colonel Miller, rushed up- 
on and destroyed the enemy's works, captured 
several officers, made fifty prisoners, and drove 
from the field two hundred regulars, one hundred 
and fifty militia, and four or five hundred Indi- 
ans. This was a chequered day in its events; 
the loss of the gallant Kentuckiaris being no less 
deplorable, than the success of lieutenant colonel 
Miller and his comrades was brilliant. The result 
was decidedly in favour of the American cause; and 
gener.'il Proctor being of that conviction, precipi- 
tately <iuit his ground, and sought safety at Sand- 
wich. 



APPENDIX. XV 

(No. 18.) 
J^AVAL BATTLE OjX BRIE. 

This account is in all respects so fair, that we 
shall not take up one moment to insert a great ma- 
ny small omissions, hut to do homage to the manly 
spirit and candour of captain Barclay, to which we 
presume the historian is indebted for his candid 
representation. And here we might observe, that 
many, if not most of the errors, bordering on false- 
hood, to be found in the British history, are due to 
the notorious misrepresentations and arrogance of 
British officers in foreign service. From Bar- 
clay's honest story there was no room for equivo- 
cation; and hence the round admission that "//te ^•^c- 
tor\] was decisive.'*^ In the note appended by tlie 
author, is a covert attempt to lessen the glory ac- 
quired by the American arms, by representing the 
squadron of commodore Perry greatly superior in 
strength. The following table will shew tlie truth 
in this respect; the swivels on both sides enumer- 
ated as guns: — 

British. Guns. 

Detroit, - - - - 22 

Queen Charlotte, - 18 

LadyPrevost, - - 14 

Hunter, - - - - 10 

Little Belt, - - - 3 

Chippeway, - - 3 



70 



American. 


Guns, 


Niagara, - 


- 20 


Lawrence, - 


20 


Ariel, - - 


- 4 


Caledonia, - 


3 


Scorpion, 


- 2 


Somers, 


4 


Tigress, - 


- 1 


Porcupine, 


- 1 


Trippe, 


1 



56 



Xvi APPENDIX. 

The killed on board the American squadfon were 
27, wounded 96, total 123. 

The killed on board the British squadron were 
41, wounded 94, total 135. After the action the 
prisoners exceeded in numbers their captors. On 
what pretence then can it be represented that the 
advantage was on the side of the Americans? The 
result proved tliat commodore Perry, with inferior 
numbers in men and guns, had the address, cour- 
age, and seamanship, to beat his antagonist. 

* 

(No. 19.) 

BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 

The estimate of the British troops is notorious- 
ly too small. General Harrison killed twelve, 
wounded twenty -two, an*d captured on the field six 
hundred and one regulars; and the author himself 
a little subsequently admits that general Proctor col- 
lected at Ancaster, of the ^'shattered remains of his 
army,*' about two hundred men. So that it does ap- 
pear from indubitable authority, that the British 
force at the Moravian village was at least eight 
hundred and thirty-four regulars. The Indian 
forces are more fairly recorded; but we do not give 
our faith in any degree to the story of the personal 
rencontre of colonel Johnson with Tecumseh. That 
the colonel was in the hottest of the lire, distin- 
guished by his gallantry and prowess, is known; 
but so far as our information extends he has never 
countenanced the romance of the story. On what 
authority it is stated, that the "Americans had a 
kind of ferocious pleasure in contemplating the con- 



APPENDIX. xvii 

tour of tlic fcatiives" of Teriunse]i wc know not. It 
is without any hesitation wc pronounce the reflec- 
tion false. Had such a pleasure animated the 
hearts of the hrave and generous Kentuckians, 
they did not want occasion to indulge it to satiety 
by retaliating the injuries of their countrymen up- 
on the very perpetrators of their wrongs, now in 
their power, and of whom they could but cherish 
contempt and indignation. Other sentiments were 
entertained towards Tecumseh. True he was a 
savage and relentless enemy; but he was brave, 
and for his bi*avery respected by the Kentuckians. 
If, indeed, tliey had been able to designate the per- 
son of Tecumseh among the fallen, they would have 
contemplated his feature and form witli the same 
curiosity that every generous man, especially a sol- 
dier, would contemplate the scull of Hannibal, Cse- 
sar, or Alexander; the person of Wellington, or the 
face of the great prisoner at St. Helena, It was 
believed, at the termination of the battle, that the 
great Shawanee warrior had fallen; and a fine 
corpse, with a noble front, was supposed to be his 
remains; but no one offered it, or any otiier on the 
ground, any indignity. Such were not the deeds of 
the Kentuckians. Our feelings in repelling these 
insinuations are awakened a little in retaliation; 
and therefore we shall not allow to general Proc- 
tor, or his fame, the benefit of the apology offer- 
ed for him by the historian. '^General Proctor per- 
ceiving that all was lost, ordered his troops to dis- 
perse, and sought his own safety injlight," What! 
general Proctor, the cold-hearted murderer of pris- 
b2 



Xviii APPENDIX. 

oners, remain to witness the result of a battle on 
equal terms! He fled at the moment of the first 
charge upon the British regulars, without one at- 
teni-.t to succour or support them by his reserve of 
cavalry, which he carried off with him for his bet- 
ter protectio.j in the event of a pursuit. He did 
not wait the result of the contest with the Indians, 
whose bravery in their own defence merited a bet- 
ter protection from him whose fortunes they had fol- 
lowed. If the dastardly hero of the Raisin had fall- 
en under the inspection of the conquerors, the mem- 
ory of his cruelties and barbarities might justly 
have excited their execration; but even his loath- 
some carcass could not have provoked a brave Ken- 
tuckian to forget what was due to his species. 

(No. 20.) 
EVEJVTS OJV LAKE CHAMPLAIjY. 

The expedition of colonel Murray, deemed of suf- 
ficient importance to be inserted by the historian, 
was set oif by several embellishments which seem 
to have been forgotten; and this is somewhat unac- 
countable too, as the author has certified in the most 
decided terms, that <*this important service was per- 
formed with a degree of promptitude and ngulari- 
ty highly honourable to the officers." Now, until 
this unqualified testimony of Mr. Baines, we had 
been accustomed to look upon this excursion of co- 
lonel Murray as quite equal to some of the most 
celebrated achievements of admiral Cockburn in 
the Cliesapeake. At Plattsburgh, at the time whol- 
ly defenceless, there was a most wanton destruc- 



APPENDIX. 



XIX 



tion of private property. Tables, bureaux, clocks, 
desks, &c. were cut and broken into pieces, and the 
fragments thrown over the apartments they Iiad fur- 
nished. Books, private papers, and feathers dis- 
charged from beds ripped open, were scattered 
through the streets. At Point-au-Roche, where the 
party stopped a few hours, the wife of a respecta- 
ble citizen, of the name of Williams, was assaulted 
by three ruffians, with direct menaces of her chas- 
tity, and escaped disgrace alone by the heroic con- 
duct of lier husband, who, with iier aid, beat off 
two, and actually captured and secured one of the 
party. At Swanton nothing ferocious or barbarous 
was omitted. By the depositions of several per- 
sons it was proved, beyond a question, that a young 
lad}', not exceeding the age of fifteen, was seized 
by a number of soldiers, and by force carried into 
a room. Having shut out all chance of rescue, they 
doomed her to the most diabolical violence, regard- 
ing neither her entreaties nor screams. After this 
well established case, it would be creeping indeed, 
to recount the mean and pilfering depredations 
that were practised in every part of the village. 
These were the "important services performed with 
a degree of promptitude and regularity highly hon- 
ourable to the officers directing the expedition!" 

(No. 21.) 

IMMPTO^AT'S EXPEJDITIOJV OJ\r THE CHATEAUGAY. 
With this account the historian commences a se- 
ries of rodomontade, worthy of Munchausen. In 
the first place, the united forces under Wilkinson 
and Hampton are greatly over-rated^ those under 



XX APPENDIX. 

the former being about six thousand five hundred, 
while those under the latter amounted to taree 
thousand five hundred eflective men. With these, 
had the commanders been good and true, Montreal 
ought easily to iiave been captured. This declara- 
tion is hazarded without any regard to the opinion 
of the historian, that the "troops were formidable 
only in numbers, and possessed no qualities which 
could enable them to stand the shock of armies un- 
der British discipline." The troops under Wilkin- 
son had seen a good deal of service in the campaign, 
having captured York, forts George and Erie, and 
defended Sackett's Haibour; and the historian, re- 
lating the capture of fort George, spoke of them 
as follows: — "But the numerical superiority of the 
assailants, combined with that coolness and intre- 
pidity which experience imparts, and of which the 
Americans had already begun to shew several ex- 
amples, overcome all opposition." On that occa- 
sion it appears the}^ did possess some "qualities 
whicli could enable them to stand the shock of ar- 
mies under British discipline." And, if allowed 
to anticipate the story, for an example of their 
qualities, we would remind Mr. Baines that sixteen 
hundred of these very men, under general M<Comb, 
co-operating with commodore M*Donough's squad- 
ron, and supported by two brigades of militia, suc- 
cessfully defended Plattsburgh, in 1814, against the 
British squadron and twelve thousand troops un- 
der "British discipline," headed by sir George Pre- 
vost in person, accompanied by adjutant general 
Baines, the brother of the historian. 



(APPENDIX. Xxi 

The sequel of the narrative, emhracing the move- 
lents of general Hampton on the Chateaugay, 
v^hich were intended only as a division in favour of 
tVilkinson on the St. Lawrence, until liis descent 
hould enable him to come within communication 
vith Hampton's division, is monstrously vain-glo- 
•ious^ insomuch that it could not procure the faith 
)f a single reader out of the British dominions, and 
A^e doubt much wliether it would command that of 
fohn Bull himself. The forces under general 
Hampton, which have just been estimated from eight 
to ten thousand, and now at seven tliousand infan- 
try and two hundred cavalry, &c. are here repre- 
sented as defeated by a British force not exceeding 
three hundred! The whole of this story is just as 
true as that part of it which makes colonel M<Car- 
ty command the Americans, on the south-east side 
of the river. The detachment on that service was 
commanded by colonel Purdy, there being no such 
officer as colonel M<Carty present. 

This affair must be set right. The division un- 
der general Hampton, three thousand five hundred 
effectives, moved from Chateaugay on the 21st of 
October, 1813, and arrived next day at Sears. 
Between this position and the lines of the enemy, 
lay a heavy forest, much obstructed by fallen trees 
and other impediments, and defended by five hun- 
dred troops. In order to ascertain the whole force 
of the enemy posted on this route, for the defence 
of Montreal, general Hampton opposed to the front 
of tbe forest a battalion of two liuiidred and twen- 
ty-five men, who occasionally skirmished with the 



XXii APPENDIX. 



enemy in his covering; while colonel Purdy, with 
his regiment, proceeded down the south-east side 
of the river to examine the position of tlie enemy 
in the rear of the forest, with instructions, if cir- 
cumstances favoured, to cross the river and attack, 
on the flank and in the rear, the forces posted in 
the wood. The night being dark, and the guide los- 
ing his way, colonel Purdy did not accomplish the 
object of his destination. At three o'clock P. M 
on the 26th, while the battalion in front was wait- 
ing the attack of colonel Purdy in the rear, the 
enemy came out and made an attack on it. A 
smart engagement ensued; but the enemy being 
charged, were entirely dispersed, and the forest 
cleared. The American loss here was one killed 
and four wounded. Colonel Purdy's command 
having had a good deal of bush fighting, lost, in the 
whole, killed, wounded, and missing, about thirty 
men. The results of these experiments ascertain- 
ed to general Hampton the position of the enemy 
behind the woods; but the crisis of the campaign 
having not arrived, he was not authorized to attack 
further the enemy in his position. This service had 
been reserved for the united forces of Wilkinson 
and Hampton, and from the plan of the War De- 
partment, the latter was not to depart on his own 
responsibility. General Hampton remained unmo- 
lested in the neighbourhood lor several days, with- 
out hearing any thing of general Wilkinson, and 
then, on the recommendation of a council of his 
officers, returned within the territory of the United 
States, TJiis is the mighty affair which has been 



, 



APPENDIX. XXiii 

magnified into a defeat of seven to eight thousand 
A.mericans by three hundred British regulars and 
Canada militia. 

(No. 22.) 

DESCEJVT OF THE ST. LAWREN'CE. 
In the relation of general Wilkinson's descent of 
tiie St. Lawrence, the historian has not been more 
accurate than in his account of general Hampton's 
campaign. In passing Prescot, says he, on the au- 
thority of sir George Prevost, "the American ar- 
mada was doomed to sustain a heavy and destruc- 
tive cannonade." On arriving near the place, gen- 
eral Wilkinson seems to have been sagacious 
enough to elude the enemy completely. He sent 
forward some old boats, on which, it being dark, 
the garrison exhausted their long shot, and after- 
wards the flotilla passed without harm, excepting 
from one shot, which killed two and wounded three 
men, arriving in good order next morning at Ham- 
ilton, twenty miles below Prescot. Here the cav- 
alry, wliich had been marched previously on the 
American side, was crossed over and landed near 
Williamsbcrg on the enemy's side. At the same time, 
and not before, general Boyd, with a brigade of 
fifteen hundred men, was landed to cover the boats 
in their pr.ssage through the rapids. These par- 
ticulars are stated to apprize the reader of the 
wonderfid artillery at Prescot, which the historian 
asserts <»briskly assailed, at the distance^" mind, ^^of 
twenty miles, the army on the shore under the com- 
mand of brigadier general Boyd, with shot and 
shells." 



xxiv APPENDIX. 

Near Williamsberg general Boyd had a rencon- 
tre, in which, by the fall of lieutenant Smith, the ai] 
enemy got possession of one gun, and afterwards tli 
boasted a splendid victory. From tlie accounts on 
both sides, it may fairly be supposed that neither \ 
party gained much on the field. Many lives were 
lost, and many valuable officers wounded^ of the 
Americans, general Covington mortally. Between 
the notorious misrepresentations of colonel Morri- 
son, who commanded the enemy, and the windy re- 
port of general Wilkinson, very great uncertainty 
has ever hung on the events of the 11th of Novem- 
ber, 1813. 

The historian very ignorantly, or disingenuously, 
ascribes to the disasters of the day the abandon- 
ment of the expedition against Montreal. The 
American army w as not at all depressed by the re- 
sult of the battle of Williamsberg. Nor did it return 
to the territories of the United States from any con- 
sciousness of defeat; but on the contrary, the flotil- 
la proceeded, on the next day, through the rapids, 
while the cavalry, with the ordnance, marched 
along the Canada shore, without further molesta- 
tion by the enemy. The whole force re-united at 
Barnhart's, near Cornwall, where general Brown 
had arrived the day before, having successfully com- 
batted all the obstructions of his march by the ene- 
my. The result, then, of the battle of Williams- 
berg was entirely favourable to the destination of 
the American army. It was at Barnhart's that 
general Wilkinson took upon himself to decide that 
general Hampton had declined a junction with him, 



APPENDIX. XXV 

and on that pretext, to violate what he had before 
admitted to be the orders of the government, and 
the most solemn obligations of duty, "to precipitate 
his descent of the St. Lawrence by every practica- 
ble means." He having remained on the Canada 
shore nntil the IStlv, without seeing or hearing of an 
enemy in his neighbourhood, gave up the service 
for which he had been especially selected, and with 
it the hopes of the country, the expectations of the 
government, liis ow^n military reputation, and the 
honour of the army; and, interposing the responsi- 
bility of a council of officers to exculpate himself, 
malignantly and fretfully inculpated general Hamp- 
ton, who, to say tlie most against him, was not 
more guilty than Wilkinsen. Had Wilkinson ad- 
hered to his instuctions, and steadily pressed his 
way to Montreal, it was more than Hampton dared 
to absent his army when the crisis had arrived; 
and there is no one capable of forming a correct 
opinion, who will not see, on inspection of the map, 
that to ensure the greatest facility to the junction 
of the two armies, Wilkinson, by descending the 
St. Lawrence, and menacing the forces of the ene- 
my opposed to Hampton on the 20th of October, 
would have brought himself into easy communication 
WMth the expected reinforcement, and the promised 
supplies. His determination to the contrary, how- 
ever, subjected himself and Hampton to this sarcasm 
of the historian: — <»It was strongly surmised in the 
United States that the battles of Chateaugay and 
Williamsberg had abated their military ardour. 



XXVi APPENDIX. 

and that in reality their dissensions might be traced 
to this cause." 

On the whole, we have no disposition to attempt 
to defend the conduct of general Wilkinson in the 
closing scene of the expedition^ believing, as we do, 
that no military service ever furnished, rvith im- 
imnity, a parallel in neglect of duty and disobedi- 
ence of orders; but we would desire to rescue the 
faithful troops that followed him from the odium of 
defeat, and the taunts of the late enemy, and tliere- 
fore, all we have written on this j)articular head is 
intended for their benefit. 

(No. 23.) 

cojYflagratioj^ of J^EWARK, &c. 
The historian proceeds to the account of tlie 
burning of Newark by general M'Clure; and the 
events an the Niagara, which he has been pleased 
to consider in the nature of retaliation. We should 
permit his narrative to pass without a remark, but 
for the imputation to tlie Americans, <»of a system 
of plunder organized" by them '^against the loyal 
inhabitants of that district." This we have quoted 
for the sole purpose of contradiction. The gov- 
ernment and people heard of tlie conflagration of 
Newark with the most painful sensations, and, with- 
out explanation, condemned it. After tlie explana- 
tions between the commanding ofiicer and the se- 
cretary of war, the moral character of tlie transac- 
tion received little apology in the feelings and sen- 
timents of the American people. Vfe, ourselves, 
have r.o hesitation in denouncing the act unneccs- 



APPENDIX. XXtii 

sary, so far as tlie good of the service was concern- 
ed, and therefore, in its character, wanton and van- 
dalic. Birt wanton and barbarous as it may have 
been, its measure was far transcended by the ene- 
my, in lajing waste the wliole country bordering 
on the Niagara, the inhabitants of which, being at 
the time, retired from military occupations. If any 
thing can be said in extenuation of the conduct of 
the enemy, there would not be wanting enough to 
justify general M<Clure for the destruction of New- 
ark, and all the settlements round about it; for he 
was actually in the military occupation of fort 
George, the security of which was not a little to be 
affected by the proximity of the town. We are en- 
tirely at a loss to understand how the historian 
could emblazon the conduct of general Riall and 
colonel Murray in the terms he has employed, and 
afterwards denounce the service in which they had 
been engaged as ^'abhorrent to every civilized mind, 
and fit only for the savage auxiliaries of the two 
exasperated belligerents." AYanton and barbarous 
as he may have deemed the conduct of general 
M<Clure, it did not, in any degree, abate the hor- 
rid immorality of the conduct of the British offi- 
cers. 

In this narrative, one allegation occurs which w^e 
could wish had no foundation in truth. The histo- 
rian speaks of the ^^ auxiliaries of the two exaspe- 
rated belligerents." We regret exceedingly that 
government, or its agents, ever tarnished the ser- 
vice of the country by receiving into the army the 
auxiliaries here mentioned. It is not unknown to 



xxviii APPENDIX. 

US, that the government declined, in the beginning 
of the war, the proffered services of the Indians^ 
nor is it unknown to us that the enemy had taken 
advantage of their bloody propensities, and array- 
ed them against us; and that it was not until some- 
time in the campaign of 18 IS, that a few of them 
were received into the American service, with such 
restraints as forbid the cruel practices to which, 
in war, they are accustomed. Nevertheless, we de- 
ny the policy, or moral propriety of associating 
savages v/ith the troops of a Christian people; and 
our experience proves that they cannot be used with 
profit, unless they be permitted to wage war in their 
own style. Such a permission, an American offi- 
cer or the American government can never grant, 
and retain the countenance and support of the Amer- 
ican people. We need them not in any emergency. 
Perry and Harrison defeated them and their em- 
ployers; and all the benefits derived from their ser- 
vices on the Niagara did not compensate the impu- 
tation, that our army was sustained by such aux- 
iliaries. 

(N'o. 24.) 

CAPTURE OF THE CHESAPEAKE, &c. 

The slender grounds, on which the historian 
claims ascendency for tlie British navy, are, of 
themselves, the highest compliment to that of the 
Americans. Of the incidents of the naval campaign 
of 1813, he has here enumerated four; the Hornet 
and Peacock, Chesapeake and Sliannon, Wasp and 
Pelican, and Enterprize and Boxer. A short 



APPENDIX. XXix 

review of these will shew how well the historian was 
authorized to say to the world, that *Hhe ascemUn- 
cy inclinedf unquestionably, to that power which had 
so long reigned the uurivalUd mistress of the waves,*' 
meaning the navy of Great Britain. 

The Hornet carries eighteen carronades; and the 
Peacock, of equal tonnage, had on hoard, at the time 
of her capture, sixteen four-and-twenty pound car- 
ronades, two long nines, one twelve pound carronade, 
one six pounder, and two swivels; in all, twenty-two. 
The difference in men was more in favour of the 
Peacock than that of guns; hut, notwithstanding, 
the Peacock was torn to pieces in fifteen minutes, 
and sunk before all her crew could be removed. 
The Hornet was somewhat injured in her rigging, 
but received little or no damage in her hull. 

The superiority of the Americans, over their ene- 
mies, was not greater in professional than in moral 
qualities. Captain Pcake, the commander of the 
Peacock, obliged three impressed American sailors, 
notwithstanding their expostulations and entreaties 
to be excused, to fight against their country and 
countrymen. The crew of the Hornet, the day af- 
ter the battle, made up a subscription, and supplied 
their prisoners each with a suit of comfortable 
clothing, of which they were deprived by the sud- 
den destruction and sinking of their vessel. This 
god-like occurrence sets out too brilliantly tjje claims 
of the generous victors, to be recorded by the Bri- 
tish historian; but is is deemed, by us, of sufficient 
consideration to bo commemorated in this note. 

K 2 



XXX APPENDIX. 

More we shall not add on this affair, seeing it has 
been admitted to have terumiated decidedly infavour / 
of the United States. 

Now comes the case of the Chesapeake and 
Shannon, the result of which, when compared with 
that of the rencontre of the Hornet and Peacock, 
was not of a decisive character; hut the historian 
has extolled it with all his powers, as an event prov- 
ing that the sun of the British navy had again ris- 
en to illumine the world. In stating the case, he 
has said several handsome things of captain Law- 
rence, and presented, in his general picture, many 
ornamental shades. Nevertheless, it is a British 
story, in which are hlcnded general facts, with a 
great deal of romance. In speaking of the result, 
we do not intend to be understood to deny, that the 
Chesapeake was captured; but we deny that, under 
all the circumstances, the British nation have any 
just reason to set up her capture as a decided proof 
of their superiority. On the contrary, so long as 
captain Lawrence was able to direct the battle, he 
liad the advantage; and it is not at all improbable, 
if the two ships had not fallen foul one on the 
other, and afforded captain Broke the opportunity 
of boarding, the Shannon AA^ould have become the 
prize. This hypothesis is founded on the decla- 
ration of captain Lawrence himself; and no one 
could be better able to form a correct opinion. 
He had remained on the deck for sometime after 
carrying the Chesapeake most elegantly into ac- 
tion, witnessed all the incidents which had occurred 
on cither side, and carried with him to the sur- 



APPENDIX. XXXi 

geon's department a cool and unshaken spirit, giv- 
ing positive orders to the officers ahout him to press 
the fight with continued energy. On hearing of 
the success of tlie enemy, he replied to the officer 
who bore the intelligence, "then, sir, you have not 
done your duty, for the Shannon was wliipped 
when I left the deck." This was not the assertion 
of an enthusiast. It was a sober fact. The Slian- 
non was cut up in her hull, and was nearly in a 
sinking state at the moment when the fall of Law- 
rence took from the Chesapeake a directing spirit 
and judgment. The want of a mind to order and 
command, produced first unsteadiness, and then 
confusion and insubordination throughout the s!up. 
Ludlow, the only officer who could, in any degree, 
have supplied the loss of the commander, fell early 
in the action; and tlie victory was due only to the 
unfortunate accidents which befel the Chesapeake, 
and not to any superiority of conduct or courage 
on board tlie Sliannon. 

It has been repeatedly confessed by British offi- 
cers, that of the ships, the Shannon was far the 
most crippled, when they arrived together at Hali- 
fax; the Americans, even in their misfortunes, hav- 
ing given proofs of tlieir superior gunnery. Will 
any impartial person, or community, after this view 
of t!ie affiiir, contend that the victory was, in itself, 
so very flecisivc, as to put down forever the claims 
of the United States? If more were wanting, we 
could super-add the very important fact, the inferi- 
ority of the Chesapeake, not only in guns, but also 
in tonnage, and the more important fact, the green, 
not to say mutinous, state of her crew. 



XXXii APPENDIX. 

On this case, to our minds, very indecisive, 
compared with that of tlie Hornet and Peacock, 
principally reposes the historian for the establish- 
ment of British sujjcriority. The case of the Peli- 
can and Wasp, next stated, is confessed not to have 
been of a nature so brilliant; a large sloop of twen- 
ty-six guns, with a full complement of men, being 
occupied nearly an hour in subduing her adversary? 
a liglit sloop of eighteen guns, and a reduced crew. 
Little honour is claimed for this victory; yet, to- 
gether with the capture of the Chesapeake, it is 
deemed sufficient to prq)onderate the capture of 
the Peacock and Boxer. It will be recollected that 
this is a question, not about the value of the prizes, 
but on the superiority of the antagonists, with re- 
ference to their respective forces, and professional 
prowess. So liard has the iinrivalled mistress of 
the waves been pressed, by the stripling navy of 
the United States, that she is forced to come to 
judgment with testimony on which slie herself 
scarcely dares to rely, and opposed by that w^hicli 
she has not the affrontery to discredit. According 
to the logic of the historian, two decided victories 
on the part of the Americans, are preponderated by 
two on the part of the British, which we have 
shewn to be questionabl -^ But if the historian had 
chosen to put the case m candour, he could have 
found a fifth victory in the naval events of 1813, 
which, if credited on the right side, would have so 
decisively settled the issue, as to leave the most 
sceptical without a plea; we mean the great victory 
of Perry on Lake Erie. In the order of time, it 



APPENDIX. xxxiii 

was achieved after all those abovementioned; and 
surely, unless Mr. Baines be an Irishman, and 
claim the privilege of his countrymen, it should 
have been classed with the navat victories. In 
character, and in its results, it stands high in the 
annals of the two nations. 

(No. 25.) 
BATTLE OF CHIP P AWAY. 

Every American citizen will read, with emotions 
of pride and pleasure, this account of the battle of 
Chippaway. We could ask of a partisan no more 
than is here granted, so far as the result of the con- 
test is concerned. It is allowed by the author, that 
the steady bravery of general Scott's brigade gave 
an intimation, that the Americans had acquired 
qualities to counterpoise the prowess of the veteran 
troops of Great Britain. This is the apology for 
the admission, that general Riall, being no longer 
able to sustain the accumulated fire of the American 
corps, accompanied by Towson's artillery, order- 
ed the attack to be abandoned, and the troops to 
retire behind their works at Chippaway. But the 
historian has endeavoured to qualify his praise, by 
diminishing the British, and exaggerating the 
American forces engaged,* fortifying his statement 
by an appeal to the report of tlie British command- 
er. The truth is, the advantage of numbers was on 
the side of the enemy. Exclusive of Canada militia 
and Indians, Gen. Riall led into the action, fifteen 
hundred regulars^ which were met and vanquished 
by three battalions of general Scott's brigade, and 



XXXiv APPENDIX. 

the Pennsylvania and N. York volunteers, amount- 
ing in the whole, to about seventeen hundred effec- 
tive men. The action gave a good opportunity of 
testing the qualities of tlie troops on both sides. 
Every species of weapon was employed; tbe bayo- 
net most liberally. In every trial, the veterans of 
Wellington flinched. In the use of fire arms, as 
usual, the Americans had decidedly the advantage; 
killing and wounding nearly one third of the enemy 
in less than one hour. Such was the effect of the 
steadiness, bravery, and dexterity of the Americans, 
that general Riall imagined a force of six thousand 
opposed to him, when in fact he contended with lit- 
tle more than one fourth of that number. The fol- 
lowing returns of the casualities on both sides may 
be trusted; being taken respectively from the offi- 
cial reports of the rival commanders:— 

Killed. Wounded. Missing. TotaL 

British, 138 320 55 513 

Americans, 60 249 19 328 

Difference, 78 71 36 185 

(No. 26.) 

BATTLE OF BRIDGEWATER, 

This battle, more generally called in the United 
States, the battle of Niagara, has been considered 
on all hands, the most sanguinary field engage- 
ment that has ever taken place in America; in 
which the combatants contended for victory by long 
and various exertions. Taking together the offi- 
cial reports of both the generals in command, al- 



APPENDIX. XXXV 

though very contradictory in many particulars, it 
would seem, that the two armies were, numerically 
about equal; each being about three thousand strong; 
and that the aggregate loss on either side was very 
nearly balanced; the American being eight hun- 
dred and sixty seven, the British, eiglit laindred 
and eighty eight. It is not our present purpose to 
correct the many inaccuracies, which occur in the 
details of tlie historian; but to rectify his misrepre- 
sentations of the most important incidents of the 
battle, which he has so strangely wrouglit into a 
victory for the British arms. We claim the palm 
for general Brown and his associates, upon the 
usual evidences of victory, the repulse of tlie enemy; 
capture of general Riall, twenty officers, one hun- 
dred and fifty rank and fUe, and all their artillery; 
besides the actual possession of the field some time 
after the battle had closed. In other casualities, 
there was little preponderance on either side. The 
carnage, not confined to one spot, strewed the whole 
ground; the wounded,' dying, and dead indiscrimi- 
nately piled in horrid and mournful heaps. 

Tlie unvarnislied tale runs thus: — The American 
army had been posted at Chippaway. Gen. Brown 
informed of the reinforcement of the enemy, and 
of his marcli on Queenstown, at the same time men- 
acing the American post at Lewistown on the op- 
posite bank, in the afternoon of the 25th July, 1815, 
advanced general Scott's brigade, Towson*s artill- 
ery, and all the dragoons and mounted men, with 
orders to report if the enemy appeared, and when 
necessary call for assistance. On arriving at the 



XXXVi APPENDIX. 

Falls, general Scott descried the enemy posted di- 
rectly in front; a narrow wood intervening. Des- 
patching intelligence of his circumstances to gene- 
ral Brown, Scott precipitated his troops upon the 
enemy's line, and maintained singly a desperate 
fight of one hour; when general Ripley, with his 
brigade, major Hineman with his corps of artillery, 
and general Porter at the head of his command, 
having all pressed forward with the greatest ar- 
dor, arrived on the field. General Brown imme- 
diately interposed the fresh troops, and disengaged 
the first brigade, which he converted into the re- 
serve. The enemy's artillery, posted on an emi- 
nence, the key of the position, had given and was 
now affording him great advantages; and to secure 
the victory to the Americans, it became necessary 
at any sacrifice to seize it. On the suggestion, by 
general Ripley, of this necessity, the commander 
in chief ordered the proper dispositions; and col- 
onel Miller, at the head of his regiment, advancing 
steadily and gallantly to his object, carried the 
height and seized the enemy's cannon. About tliis 
juncture, major Jessup, of the 15th, who had been 
ordered to the right, to be governed by circum- 
stances, having turned and engaged the left wing of 
the enemy, shewed himself again to his own army 
in a blaze of fire; having captured general Riall 
and sundry other officers, among whom was the 
aid-de-camp of lieutenant general Drummond, and 
made pr-isoners one hundred and fifty raniv and file. 
These glorious and concurrent achievements gave 
general Brown undisputed possession of the field, 



APPENDIX. XXXVii 

land all the trophies of victory which the amhition 
of a soldier could covet. Not an enemy appeared 
to contest his claims. 

The American lines were all reformed, and in 
readiness to receive the enemy, who, having been 
greatly reinforced by the arrival of lieutenant col- 
onel Scott with twelve hundred fresh troops, again 
advanced, and with a determined charge, endeav- 
oured to force general Brown from his position, 
and recover the lost artillery. But the Ameri- 
can lines, not to be shaken, in turn pressed upon 
their antagonists, and a second time drove them 
at the point of the bayonet down the hill. Two 
other attempts of the enemy had the same issue. 
In the first, general Scott's brigade participated; 
and in the last, general Porter's corps was distin- 
guished, precipitating themselves on the right of 
the enemy with great effect, and making a number 
of prisoners. 

Generals Brown and Scott being wounded, the 
command devolved upon the steady and gallant 
Ripley. After remaining sole possessors of the 
ground for some time, t]ie American army return- 
ed to camp to seek refreshment; no enemy appear- 
ing to annoy it. On what pretext, then, has the 
historian claimed the victory for tlie arms of his 
Britannic majesty? Alone on the unblushing and 
false report of the vanquished general! One cir- 
cumstance only favored his wilful deception. From 
the dreadful destruction of the horses, general Rip- 
ley was unable to bring off the cannon, being un- 
willing to submit his gallant comrades to the toil 
D 



XXXVUl 



APPENDIX. 



of dragging them by hand. It was therefore left 
on the field, and was afterwards taken into the pos- 
session of those from whom it had been so glorious- 
ly wrested. For those who look to the list of kill- 
ed, wounded, and captured, for tlie evidence of vic- 
tory, we subjoin the following abstract, taken from 
the most authentic accounts that we have been able 
to consult. 

Killed. Wounded. Missing, Total. 

British, 160 559 169 888 

American, 171 579 117 867 

Difference, 11 20 52 21 

In the beginning of our remarks on this memo- 
rable battle, we stated the contending parties to 
be nearly equal. Our calculations of the enemy's 
number are exclusive of a body of local militia, who 
from the best evidence were in the action; to^what 
number, we have been wholly unable to ascertain. 
It would be fair, though, from the population of the 
peninsula to estimate them at four or five hundred. 
It seems they formed a lieutenant colonel's com- 
mand. We find them mentioned in general Drum- 
mond's general orders, of the next day after the 
battle, when they were dismissed with his acknow- 
ledgments, in the following terms: — <«The lieuten- 
ant general and president has great pleasure in dis- 
missing to their homes the whole of the sedentary 
militia, who have so handsomely come forward on 
the occasion." In another place, they are spoken 
of as a party of incorporated militia, by whom the 
brunt of the action was for a considerable time sus- 
tained. And again, the party is mentioned as 



APPENDIX. XXXix 

composing a moiety of the advance, under lieuten- 
ant colonel Pearson. All the British accounts en- 
tirely omit the return of the strength of this body. 
It seems to have constituted no mean part of the 
British force, yet its muster roll has been carefully 
concealed from the world. Without it, it would 
seem, the enemy's numbers exceeded Gen. Brown's 
division by two hundred. This difference was early 
diminished by the capture of general Riall, twenty 
officers, and one hundred and fifty rank and file. 
But during the whole contest, the Americans were 
doomed to contend with an equal number of English 
veterans, and a concealed number of local militia, 
believed to amount as we have before stated, to four 
or five hundred. 

(No. 27.) 
ATTACK Ojy FORT ERIE, &c. 

We have occasion to make only a few^ remarks 
upon the historian's accounts of the attack on fort 
Erie, and the sortie, of the 17th September, on the 
British works. In these the truth is presented 
with candor and force. The defeat of the enemy 
was complete in both instances; and his disasters 
so signal, that he was forced to relinquish all the 
objects proposed in the siege of the fort, and seek 
safety by retreat to his more permanent defences. 
All this has been fully admitted; and the author is 
found in the beginning of chapter tenth, to acknow- 
ledge, "that the Americans had been taught to 
fight on the land as well as upon the ocean, and 
that they were indebted to Great Britain for their 



xl APPENDIX. 

instruction.'' He might more truly have said, that 
the Americans had learned to Jight, and acquired 
their projtciency on British subjects, 

(No. 28.) 
EXPEnmOJS^ AGAIA'ST PLATTSBURGH, &c. 

This whole chapter is exclusively occupied with 
the formidable expedition, of sir George Prevost, 
against Plattsburgh. We have it here stated on 
Britisli authority, that his land forces amounted to 
fourteen thousand men. These effected none of the 
purposes of the expedition, having been "baffled and 
defeated by an American army less than one third 
tlieir number." The account of the naval battle is 
most fairly given; but the author has entirely neg- 
lected the opportunity of indulging his fancy and 
moral feeling, which he exercised so successfully in 
presenting to the reader the engagement between 
the Chesapeake and Shannon frigates. It was con- 
sidered in that case, that the presence of thousands 
of anxious spectators on the one side, and the hopes 
and expectations of the British nation animating 
her heroes on the other, increased the interest and 
splendor of the exploit; but in the present case, 
when fourteen thousand British troops were anx- 
iously waiting the result, and many thousand 
American hearts beating with hope that their in- 
vaders would be arrested by the success of their 
defenders, Macdonough and his comrades, the im- 
agination is confounded, and the pen refuses to 
trace one compliment to the victors. The wailings 
of John Bull, alone, close the story. 



APPENDIX. Xli 

(29.) 
CAPTURE OF THE REIJVDEER, &c. 

We have ever felt a pleasant and mournful sen- 
sation, when the services of the gallant and ever to 
be lamented Blakely are recalled to memory. — 
Tfiere was something so interesting, so cliarming, 
and so commanding in his deportment; so amiable 
and honorable in iiis disposition, that made all who 
knew him, and enjoyed his society, take the deep- 
est concern in his professional career after tlie 
breaking out of the war. It is not necessary, that 
we should now detain our readers to say, he fulfilled 
all the expectations of his friends; and shed glory 
upon his country. We acknowledge ourselves not 
a little wounded by the declaration of the historian^ 
intending to disparage the victory, that "the pro- 
portion between the two ships, in size, weight of 
metal, and complement of men, was greatly in fa- 
vour of the Wasp." It is not true. The ships were 
well matched in every respect. Besides other au- 
thorities which might be quoted, the Reindeer was 
rated in the Britisli navy at twenty guns, affirmed 
in the British papers to carry twenty-one on the 
day of her capture, and, according to Capt. Blakely, 
had actually on board nineteen. The Wasp, car- 
ried twenty guns, and in other respects had little 
or no advantage over her antagonist, except in the 
moral qualities of her commander and crew. The 
Avon, of the same dimensions and equal number 
of guns and men, was reduced by the Wasp to a 
sinking state, after a cannonade of forty-five min- 



Xlii APPENDIX. 

utes; and did actually go to the bottom, in spite of 
the exertions of three consorts to save her. 

(Xo. SO.) 

CAPTURE OF JFASHIjYGTOJ^, &c. 

The account here given of the battle of Bladens- 
burgh, and its consequences, tallies nearly with that 
given by the British admirals and general, who 
were personally concerned in planning and execu- 
ting it: but, it must be admitted, is very imperfect. 
We have corrected the original in some important 
details, yet it still affords not even a tolerably cor- 
rect representation. It would appear from this ac- 
count, that the line under general Smith, was at- 
tacked by colonel Broke, at the same time, that 
colonel Thornton engaged the Baltimore troops 
under general Stansbury. This was not the fact. 
The two lines were so distantly posted, that they 
could not partake at the same moment in the en- 
gagement. And it is no less true, that the enemy 
did at no time attack general Smith, his brigade 
having been ordered from the field, before they 
had arrived within musket shot of his position. 
All the serious resistance encountered by the ene- 
my, after the rout of the Baltimore troops, was 
from the flotilla men and marines, who had been 
left nearly alone to contest tiieir progress. We 
had intended, here, to offer to the public what we 
have considered a true statement of the events of 
the dayj but after deliberation, have determined to 
leave the affair as it stands. We have regarded 
with much approbation, the reflections of the histo- 
rian, upon the vandalic conduct of his countrymen, 



APPENDIX. xliii 

in destroying the capitol, and other public edifices 
designed for the accommodation of the government, 
and the purposes of public legislation. They are 
just, and very ably expressedj harmonizing in all 
respects with the sentiments of the venerable Mr. 
Jefferson, conveyed to congress in the letter by 
which he proffered, to it, the substitution of bis li- 
brary in the place of that destroyed by the enemy. 

(No. 31.) 

THE BATTLE OF JVEfV ORLEJJ^S. 
We have suffered the historian's account of the 
battle of New Orleans, to go to the reader, believ- 
ing that every American is possessed of sufficient 
information to make all necessary corrections, ex- 
cepting in the matter of the relative forces, in which 
there is great error. Tlie whole American army, 
including the local militia, did not amount to ten 
thousand; and the troops engaged in the defence of 
the city, on the left bank, did not exceed three 
thousand five hundred, while those on the right 
bank may have amounted in the whole, including 
tlie Kentucky militia, to two thousand five hun- 
dred. The remainder of the American forces, em- 
bracing all descriptions, was posted variously to 
repel contingent movements of the enemy. The 
whole force of the enemy, including the naval and 
marine corps, was little short of twenty thousand. 
Witli this estimate of the forces contending, the re- 
sult gives an increase of disaster to the enemy. — 
And for the truth of our statement, we refer to the 
reports of general Jackson, as well as to those of 
admiral Cochrane and general Lambert. 



Xliv APPENDIX. 

(No. 32.) 
CAPTURE OF THE PRESIDEJVT, &c. 

It seems the historian would like to claim, for the 
Eiidymion, the capture of the President; fainty as- 
cribing it to the presence of the whole squadron. 
It is a fact, that the Endymion paid dearly for 
her temerity in engaging* singly her antagonist; 
and, after ascertaining that she was over-match- 
ed, fell out of the battle, to give her consorts the 
opportunity of coming up to divide the ^lory of 
tlie victory, and the profits of the prize. As the 
historian has concluded, with this affair, his notice 
of the naval events of the war, we have subjoined 
the captures of the Cyane and Levant, by the Con- 
stitution, captain Stewart, and the Penguin, by the 
Hornet, captain Biddle. And here, closing our 
desultory remarks, we call the attention of the read- 
er to the fact, that the historian, with all his can- 
dour, and all his endeavours to preserve truth in 
his story, has contrived to omit two remarkable na- 
val engagements, in which his countrymen were sig- 
nally defeated, to make John Bull come off conquer- 
our at last, 

CYANE AND LEVANT. 

On the 20th of February, 1815, about sixty 
leagues distant from the island of Madeira, the 
U. S. frigate Constitution, Capt. Stewart, mount- 
ing fifty-two guns, fell in with, and, after an ac- 
tion of forty minutes, captured his Britannic majes- 
ty's ships of war, Cyane, captain Falcon, mount- 
ing thirty-four guns and two brass swivels, and 



APPENDIX. Xlv 

Levant, Capt. Douglas, mounting twenty-one guns. 
The loss on board the Constitution, was three kill- 
ed and twelve wounded; and that on board the 
British ships was thirty-five killed, and forty-two 
wounded. The British ships had the advantage 
in a divided and mere active force, and in the 
weight and number of guns, and entered into the 
action with the greatest spirit. But Capt. Stewart 
manoeuvred his ship with so much judgment, as to 
avoid a raking fire from cither; and his broadsides 
soon compelled them both to surrender. 

PENGUIN. 

On the 23d of March, 1815, the U. S. sloop of 
war Hornet, capt. Biddle, near Tristan d'Acunha, 
descried the British brig Penguin, captain Dicken- 
son, carrying nineteen guns. The Hornet hoved 
to, and the Penguin bore down, and, at forty min- 
utes past une o'clock, commenced battle, which, af- 
ter twenty-two minutes, terminated in the surren- 
der of the British vessel. The Penguin was so 
much injured, that she was not worth preservation; 
and captain Biddle, having removed her crew, di- 
rected her to be scuttled. Of the British, fourteen 
were killed, and twenty-ciglit wounded; and of the 
Americans, one killed, and eleven wounded. 

The captures of the Cyane and Levant, and Pen- 
guin, happened after the ratification of the treaty 
of peace; but before the expiration of the time fixed 
by the second article, for the cessation of hostili- 
ties in the latitudes where they took place. They, 
of course, ought to be classed with the naval events 



Xlvi APPENDIX. 

of the war; and no one can doubt, that they would 
not have been omitted by the historian, had the re- 
sult been in favour of the "unrivalled mistress of 
the waves." In the United States, they have been 
considered decisively honourable to the American 
flag, and will never be forgotten in the records of 
their navy. Should the historian ever be called on 
for new editions of his work, he will not have left 
an apology for again failing to state them to the 
credit of the United States, if our review shall have 
the fortune to fall into his hands. For his benefit, 
and that of our readers, we add, pro and con, the 
following memoir of the naval events of the war, 
viz: — 

AMERICAN SIDE. 
Guerriere, captured by the Constitution 
do. Essex 
do. United States 
do. Wasp 
do. Constitution 
do. Hornet 
do. Decatur privateer 
do. Enterprise 
British squadron, on Erie, American squadron 
Epei'vier, captured by the Peacock 
Reindeer, do. do. Wasp 
Avon, do. do. Wasp 

British squad, on Champlain, American squadron 
Cyane & Levant, by the Constitution 

Penguin do. Hornet 

BRITISH SIDE. 
Nautilus, captured by a British squadron 



Alert, 


do. 


Macedonian, 


do. 


Frolic, 


do. 


Java, 


do. 


Peacock, 


do. 


Dominica, 


do. 


Boxer, 


do. 



APPENDIX. Xlvii 

Vixen, captured by the Southampton 

Wasp and Frolick do Poictiers 

Chesapeake, captured by the Shannon 
Argus, do. do. Pelican 

Essex, do. do. Phebe and Cherub 

Rattlesnake do. do. Leander 
President, do. do. British squadron 

Taking leave of Mr. Baines, we must make our 
acknowledgments to him, for the many handsome 
things he has said of the American people, in his 
very respectable "history of the wars ot the 

FRENCH REVOLUTION." 



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